Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." Since you call on a Father who judges each person's work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, "All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever." And this is the word that was preached to you.
Think of the words and the deep meanings of the passage above. Are you fully alert and sober of what is happening around you and what is about to happen? Or, are you just following the motions? Who or what are setting things in motion around you, the sinful nature of the Devil or the divine nature of Christ? You must be aware! By the way, you can't be alert and sober if you keep obeying the sinful nature of the Devil in you. Though we don't see a real physical war but there is that spiritual war that is going on and on, endlessly. Do not comform to the evil desires you lived in ignorance at one time. You know your calling now. The call for full Christformation in you.
Don't choose that empty way of life? What is that empty way of life? The empty way of life is found in Matthew 12:43-45. A life without Christformation in you is an empty way of life. Another words, a life without your obedience to all that Christ had commanded is an empty way of life. What is living your life as foreigners here on Earth and in reverent fear of the Lord, then? Life isn't just about making money and wealth. Money and wealth of this world cannot redeem you from that empty way of life, where you only live to obey the sinful nature of the Devil in you. This life filled with the divine nature of Christ fully formed within your born again spirit, starts with the washing of your sins and consciences through that powerful blood of Christ shed for us on the cross at Calvary. His blood is perfect blood that could wash our sins and consciences so that we do not obey the sinful urges of the nature of the Devil within. His sacrifice for our sins is without blemish or defect. There was and is no sin in Him. That's what He is interceding for us too at God's right hand now. He wants to free us from obeying the sinful nature of the Devil in us. That is true and everlasting freedom.
We were or are born again through a powerful way and the born again spirit comes from God's powerful word that is eternal and it will contiue in that way. It does not stop anywhere along the way. God the Holy Spirit continues to lead and guide you to God's word and everything Christ had commanded. Christformation in you goes on and on until Christ is fully formed in that born again spirit. Only the Word of God formed in you through your obedience to Christ will endure till the end. Everything else will fail. Nothing else has the quality or strength to remain forever. Being "fruitful" here in the passage below refers to Christformation in you that remains forever and ever.
Matthew 13:22
The seed falling among the thorns refers to people who
hear the word, but the worries of this life and the
deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it
unfruitful.
