With any verse that begins with the transition word therefore, one must look at what comes before to catch the meaning. "Praise be to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may prove genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven . Even angels long to look into these things" (I Peter 1:3-12). 

The prophets without having seen, but being obedient to the Spirit's direction, wrote to those who would experience the times of Christ in His earthly walk, to enlighten them and prepare them to understand what was going to happen. "By faith Abel...;" "By faith Noah . . .;" "By faith Abraham," Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and the children of Israel  . . .;" "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had the opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them" (Hebrew 11 selective).  The patriarchs and prophets of the Old Covenant wrote to prepare those who were to live in the time when Jesus the Messiah would come into the world to redeem His people. They welcomed and saw from a distance the Nation of Israel, a world-wide church of Jehovah God, the Messiah Jesus Christ Who would come to bring salvation and grace to the world, and they saw the heavenly country that is still to come. Now we can use the therefore:

"Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.  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" (I Peter 1:13-16). Just as the Old Covenant writers wrote to Peter, Paul, James, John, Luke, and the other New Covenant authors, they write to us, instructing, edifying, educating us who live in this present evil age. Just like the Old Covenant writers, the New Covenant writers were not serving themselves, but us. We can look to the past and we can look to the future because of the obedience of the Holy Spirit's journalists and reporters. Thank God for their dedication to record the message so we might also receive "new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish." We know that because of the demonstration of the integrity of God's word in the Old Covenant, we can indeed rejoice in our sufferings, and love a Lord whom we have not seen with our natural eyes. We know that because His word has proven Him to be faithful and true, we can take joy in the assurance of our salvation and comfort in the promise of a better life to come. Hallelujah!

"How then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent?" (Romans 10:14). Now it's our turn to spread the word!

Thank you, Lord, for equipping us to know You through Your word; and thank You for the writers who put pen to paper under the direction of the Holy Spirit that in this present time we may know You and seek out the deep things Your word has to offer. Anoint our minds to understand, so that we may be holy even as You are holy, and be attuned to Your direction as we walk upon this earth, and to spread Your gospel of Good News to all who will hear. Amen.