The Tuesday after Oculi Sunday
Posted on March 10, 2026 by under
Scripture: 1 Peter 1:13-16 (NKJV)
1:13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
Devotion
It is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” How is one to “be holy in all your conduct”? We can find these words from St. Peter very troubling because we know we aren’t holy in our conduct. We are creatures created by God and, as St. Paul wrote to the saints in Rome, “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” So how are we to be holy as St. Peter admonishes us to be, all the while knowing God’s wrath?
The problem we have is that our sinful nature is quick to focus on God’s Law, which leads us to despair of our status before God. We know that we are not holy. We can so easily find ourselves stewing over our sins that we forget where to turn. But God’s love for us doesn’t allow us to just stew over our sins. The Holy Ghost directs us to Christ and His forgiveness of sins. Jesus purchased you “not with gold and silver but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death” (Luther’s Small Catechism). Through the faith God gives in Holy Baptism, we are united with Jesus and His death on the Cross. Through faith, Jesus’ payment for the sins of the world is counted to us.
Collect: We beseech Thee, Almighty God, look upon the hearty desires of Thy humble servants, and stretch forth the right hand of Thy Majesty to be our defense against all our enemies; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for the Season of Lent
Almighty and Everlasting God, Who hatest nothing that Thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins, and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of Thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
