Day 9 – January 9
The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:7-8 ESV
As we recently ended one year and began a new one, these verses from the apostle Peter are timely. Is Peter predicting Jesus’s return coming soon or is Peter trying to teach us something else? As we study this passage of Scripture, it’s important to remember that Peter had first hand knowledge of Jesus’s teachings on the end of the world. In Acts 1:6, Jesus tells the apostles it’s not for them to know the timing of God’s plan. If Peter isn’t supposed to know about the end of the world, what is Peter talking about? Luke 21 may provide some answers. In Luke 21:6, Jesus predicts the destruction of the Jerusalem temple. Jesus goes on to say in Luke 21:24, “Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles.” This in fact happened in 70 AD when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem.
Based on the study of these scriptures do you think Peter meant Jesus’ return was near or that the system of the Jewish Law controlling lives was coming to an end? The temptation when reading this passage is to get so caught up in the meaning of verse 7 that we miss what the rest of the passage means for our lives. The end of our time on this earth “is at hand” and grows ever closer with each passing year. So how are we spending our remaining time? The remainder of verse 7 and and all of verse 8 tells us how we live. In the craziness and darkness of this world, we as Christians need to keep a level head so we can make fervent prayers for God’s love, mercy and grace on this world. Finally, Peter tells us to love one another above all else, just as Jesus did. He doesn’t mean just to love other Christians. He means to love the sinner, Christian or not. God is calling us to love the people who are bringing darkness into this world. We should use our time loving them–not boycotting them, talking bad about them on social media or looking to politicians to punish them. Jesus didn’t use these strategies with the woman at the well; He loved her and because of His love for her, she turned from the darkness. We should be using the same game plan!
Heavenly Father, create in our hearts the desire to build your Kingdom. Let us not get distracted by predicting Jesus’ return. Help us focus on having a Kingdom Mindset, not a Me Mindset. That means not worrying about winning an argument, but pointing people to You and letting the Holy Spirit do His work in their hearts. Teach me to love those who hate You, for You did not send your son for the perfect, but for the imperfect, which includes all of us. We pray all these things in the Mighty Name of Jesus. Amen.
Written By: Steve Miller