Day 330: Ezekiel 34-35; 1 Peter 2

In response to yesterday's question asked by God in Ezekiel 33:11, "Why will you die?" today's reading asks the corollary: "How will you live?" Consider 1 Peter 2:21: "For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps." (CSB). In His Steps, written by Charles Sheldon, became a spiritual classic because it addressed this basic question. Too many people consider Jesus in all He is (indeed we should) and then dismiss any hope of becoming like Him...the gulf between His likeness and our existence is much to great. However, Peter gives us a clue to Christlikeness...take the journey one step at a time. Journeys become manageable when we have a destination and a destiny. We know that it is all by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9), and Peter gives us the first step of Christlikeness: "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness." (1 Peter 2:24a, CSB). It starts with surrender, indeed, dying to self-centeredness and living with Christ as the center. When this is the case, the journey to Christlikeness becomes joy. Come, walk with me!