Good morning my good “Walking with Jesus” friends.
Today we begin a new month together… February! For some of you still stuck deeply in the cold winter, I’m sure it seems it’s been almost forever since you were warm! But today I want to bring all of us some really good words of HOPE, as we go forward in life, that should help gain traction in living God honoring lives. Are you ready?
We’re with the disciple Peter in the mid first century, and from his painful personal situation in Rome, Peter rolls out the parchments and writes this: “The end of all things is near. Therefore, be alert and of sober mind, so that you may pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received [from God] to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.“ (1 Peter 4:7-10) Now, what do you think Peter meant by saying “The end of all things is near”? Was Peter expecting some cataclysmic disaster in the Roman empire?
Do you remember Jesus had said to Peter, and His other close friends, when they were together for the Passover meal, on the night before Jesus went to the cross, something which led them to believe Jesus was returning to them very soon? Jesus had said: “I am going to prepare a place for you. And… I will come back and take you to be with Me, that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:6) Now Peter and his friends were practical guys, they took Jesus at His word. They had seen Him several times over a period of 40 days after His miraculous resurrection and while they couldn’t explain it, they’d watched Jesus ascend from the mount of Olives into the sky. That day two angels had appeared to the group saying: “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11)
So, it should not be difficult for us to understand WHY Peter might be expecting that Jesus would return in Peter’s lifetime, especially as living conditions for Christians in the Roman empire were becoming almost intolerable! Can you imagine the hope these words would bring to those suffering followers of Jesus? But the fact that we are reading this 2000 years after Peter wrote it, causes us to ask some important questions: Was Peter wrong? Had Jesus misled His followers in the first century? Has something gone wrong with God’s plan? Did Jesus already come back in fulfillment of what Peter wrote and we missed it? Does this statement by Peter show us we can’t trust the Bible because it hasn’t happened yet? Oh, I wish we could sit down and have a face-to-face conversation right now and give each of you listening to my voice the opportunity to tell us what you think about those questions. The short answer to each of those questions is NO!
The longer answer is that God’s plan is still being accomplished and I believe the main reason this statement of Peter has not yet happened, is another statement Peter made in his second letter. Listen: “Do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the LORD a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:8,9)
Do you see it my friends? Do you see God’s answer to those 5 questions? You and me and every other person alive at this moment are why God has not yet brought the end of all things. God’s great love for the human race is holding Him back from bringing everything all to a cataclysmic close! God’s patience is love motivated, as He provides more time for more people to escape eternal judgment by trusting Jesus Christ to save them!
That is why Peter gives such a stirring admonition to the Christians of his day: “Therefore be alert and of sober mind, so that you may pray.“ (1 Peter 4:8) Do you agree the times in which we live call for alertness to schemes of the dark kingdom as well as clear and sober thinking? Are you doing a good job of protecting your mind and heart from ANYTHING which would lull you into complacency, apathy or vulnerability? Are you guarding your heart and mind from anything that would deceive you or manipulate you or distort your perspective on God’s reality?
Now don’t rush past those two questions. Consider how social media affects you? And what about entertainment media, TV, movies? And what about the informational media like news and the internet? What about the influence of your friends or family? Are you and I as ‘alert and sober minded’ as we need to be, for our own good and the good of those we love? But wait… did you notice WHY Peter challenges us to be alert and sober minded? “So that you may pray.” Now wait a minute… don’t minimize the significance of this little statement. Consider the importance of communications in airports as hundreds of airplanes and thousands of travelers trust the accuracy of communication between pilots and the air traffic control tower? Or what about communication in military battles between the front lines and the Command-and-Control center? Or why is the cell phone industry so vital to our world? We human beings are desperate for essential communication, aren’t we? But what about our communication with God, or more important, His communication with us?
Peter is challenging us to consider how high on our priority list is our communication with God, the one who sustains our every breath? Pray… what is that for you, how important is it to you, how much of a factor in your life is your communication with God? I doubt any of us really understand the miracle of a normal human being, like you or me, actually having regular, personal, interactive, conversation with the Almighty Creator of the Universe, God!
Oh, my friends, I challenge you to consider how much more our lives could be if we nurtured and developed our communication with God. As Peter wrote this I wonder if his mind flashed back to Jesus. One of the things that most amazed the disciples about Jesus was how frequently and how earnestly Jesus prayed to His Father. They learned that prayer for Jesus was making sure His life, every detail of His life, was fully aligned with what the Father knew would be best for Jesus in each and every situation.
Is that what prayer is for you? Are you receiving God’s guidance and aligning your life with God’s best for you every day when you pray? Do you remember the time Jesus had a full day of teaching in the Synagogue of Capernaum, driving out a demon from a man who challenged Him in that Synagogue, then healing many, many sick people later that day? (Mark 1:30-39) Early the next morning, when the disciples awakened from their sleep, they noticed immediately Jesus was not in the house where they were staying. Peter went on a search and found Jesus all alone praying out in a remote place, Peter questioned Jesus, telling Him there was work to do since many people had already gathered bringing their sick friends. But Jesus had been conversing with His Father in heaven and had received His instructions for the day. So they packed up and went to the next village.That left Peter scratching his head, but also longing to develop that type of close prayer relationship with God! Years later, it was now Peter’s well developed prayer relationship with God which was enabling Peter to write his letter of great wisdom and encouragement during a very, very difficult time of persecution. So let’s pause right here and consider what you are learning about God, or what guidance you are receiving from God, or how effectively you are receiving daily instructions from God through your praying?
In these complex times, no matter where you live in the world, could anything be more important than a clear, open regular communication channel between you and Almighty God? Could anything be more helpful to you and me than God Himself guiding us in every decision, every step of life? What if you and I made developing our communication with God a priority in this new month of February? How might our lives change?
Here’s a worshipful song helping us consider this unrealized power of prayer with Jesus…
Today’s Scripture is 1 Peter 4:7 ,8.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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