Weekly Devotion no 51
2 July 2021
Bible reading – 1 Peter 4:7-11[1]
7 The end of all
things is near. So be watchful and control yourselves. Then you may pray. 8 Most of all, love one
another deeply. Love erases many sins by forgiving them. 9 Welcome others into your
homes without complaining. 10 God’s gifts of grace come in many
forms. Each of you has received a gift in order to serve others. You should use
it faithfully. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do it as
one speaking God’s words. If anyone serves, they should do it with the strength
God provides. Then in all things God will be praised through Jesus Christ.
Glory and power belong to him for ever and ever. Amen.
Reflection
Throughout this letter, Peter has been reminding his readers of the hope that we have in Christ. Now he considers how it is best to relate to our brothers and sisters in Christ as we live as God’s children in this world in the context of that hope.
The first thing that Peter encourages us to do is to pray. When Peter says we should be ‘watchful’ he means that we should listen out for things that we can pray for. So if we hear that someone maybe isn’t feeling so well, we can pray that God will heal them. Or if we hear that someone is having a hard time, we can pray that they will know that God is with them.
The second thing that Peter encourages us to do is love one another. People often talk about love as an emotion and something you feel. But actually, love is an action – it’s something that we decide to do and it takes work.
Loving people can be easy when things are going well, but sometimes it can be hard. I think that’s why Peter suggests we pray for them first, so that we can ask God to help us to love them. Maybe think of a time when a family member hurt you or said something nasty to you. How did that feel? Did you love them in that moment? You might have felt annoyed, or angry, or hurt. But God encourages us to forgive them, just as he forgives us when we do things that hurt him. We must bear with one another in love in spite of our different personalities and opinions. Let’s be willing to be a people who work at loving one another so that love abounds.
Peter
then focusses on hospitality. You don’t need a home to show hospitality. It’s possible
to show hospitality by sharing a cup of tea or coffee with someone and giving
them your time and a listening ear.
We are all given gifts by God – these are often called spiritual gifts. A spiritual gift is any talent or ability which is empowered by the Holy Spirit and able to be used in the ministry of the church. Gifts could be things like encouraging others, giving, serving, teaching, prophecy. These gifts are given to us by God’s grace – we haven’t earned them. However, the thing that Peter is stressing here is that it’s important that we use the gifts God has given us to serve others. So the fourth way we look out for our brothers and sisters in Christ is to serve them. This means not doing things that are focussed on ourselves. It’s hard to do that because our society pushes us towards thinking individually and focussing on our own needs. But Peter promises us that God provides us the strength we need to serve.
So why should we do these things? As the old chorus goes ‘and they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, yes they’ll know we are Christians by our love.’ Jesus told his disciples in John 13 that everyone would know they are his disciples if they loved one another.’[1]
So we seek to do
these things by God’s strength, so that in all things God may be praised
through Jesus Christ. We have a living hope that we want to share with others.
And we pray that they will see this through the way we love one another. So
let’s think about how we can pray, love, be hospitable and serve one another in
the coming weeks as we seek to bring praise to God.
Hymn
Verse 1
Take my life and let
it be
consecrated, Lord, to
thee.
Take my moments and
my days;
let them flow in
endless praise.
Verse 2
Take my hands and let
them move
at the impulse of thy
love.
Take my feet and let
them be
swift and beautiful
for thee.
Verse 3
Take my voice and let
me sing
always, only, for my
King.
Take my intellect and
use
every power as thou shalt
choose.
Verse 4
Take my will and make
it thine;
it shall be no longer
mine.
Take my heart it is
thine own;
it shall be thy royal throne.
Verse 5
Take my love; my
Lord, I pour
at thy feet its
treasure store.
Take myself, and I
will be
ever, only, all for thee.
Prayer
Almighty
God,
your
Son Jesus Christ has taught us
that
what we do for the least of his brothers and sisters
we
do also for him:
give
us the will to serve others
as
he was the servant of all,
who
gave up his life and died for us;
yet
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one
God, now and for ever. Amen.
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