July 16, 2014 (Wednesday)
Peter writes to encourage suffering Christians. “If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name” (1 Peter 4:15-16 NIV). He reminds them of who they are, echoing Scriptures from Deuteronomy and Hosea: “..you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (2:9-10 NIV). He urges them to center their thoughts in Jesus, their “living hope”: “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 end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1:8-9 NIV).
First Peter – a devotional thought
Jesus Christ is alive, and is our “living hope” for today, tomorrow, and forever. “In all 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 the proven genuineness of your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1:6-7 NIV). Your faith enables your joy.