“For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.” (1 Peter 4:3)
If you’ve lived a pretty straight-up or sheltered life so far, you might be reading this verse and thinking, “Wait a minute. I haven’t spent any time doing these things.” And Peter would likely say, “Even better.”
Why? Because he’s making a point that participating in all these “party sins” is a waste of our lives. It’s not just that they’re wrong – and they are, of course – it’s that they are time we can never get back, time in our short lives spent on worthlessness.
Peter was writing to people who had grown up thinking that lust, drunkenness and worshipping idols was normal, everyday stuff. Then they became Christians and realized that what was normal for their culture led to pain, emptiness, loss and destruction. Normal partying brought them nothing good, even if it felt good at the time.
If we’ve really made the choice to follow our Savior who suffered for our sin, why waste our lives indulging in more of it?
Think: Which of the things on Peter’s list of party sins is coming to be seen as normal in our culture? Does the fact that a sin is normal and accepted make that sin less of a big deal? Why or why not?
Pray: Ask God to help you not to waste your life indulging in sin, even if its normal for your culture.
Do: Notice this week what sins are being “normalized” in the media and in your neighborhood.