The Right Choice

1 Peter 5:6-11
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

One of the challenges of living is that we are constantly faced with choices and some of these choices are not easy to make. Sometimes it is an urge or craving that causes us to falter, sometimes it an offer of something that’s too hard to refuse, sometimes it is difficult circumstances in our lives which color our thinking and results in bad decisions, but there are always choices and wisdom is something we always wish we had. As a christian, it gets worse because we are called to live a life that glorifies God and in God’s sight all bad choices, whether ignorable or not in human eyes, are bad. How are we expected to make right choices and is God setting us up for failure?

The Joy of Service

1 Peter 4:7-11

The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

One of the challenges early christians faced and we face today too is knowing when the end really is. Jesus did say that He would come back for us but would not say when because He wanted us to always be on alert and serve Him faithfully. We live in uncertain times with all the strife there is in this world and add to that natural disasters, life can be very short indeed. Our calling as christians is unlike any because we are called to serve and not to be served, to love even if we are not loved, to care even if no one cares for us and above all to give glory to God in everything because it is all His. Sounds like a lot of work with no gratification and no proper end in sight and so would this really appeal to anyone?

The Death of Fear

1 Peter 3:13-18
Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.” But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.

As I interact with people at work, in my neighborhood, through common friends, etc. I have come to realize that there are two different worlds we live in because our calling and motivations are different. The two worlds are diametrically opposite because of who heads each world and it is obvious. Two challenges we face in living in both worlds are to be able to determine which side we are on and then to hold to our beliefs for the glory of the way we believe is right. I am a christian and I find that as much as I try, my calling requires me to stand apart from those who are not and show them the one who called me from darkness into light. The result is that I face the jeers of those who are not Christian as they are happy being in their skin and living in their knowledge or lack of. What does God have to say to those of us who He has saved from the darkness into His light?

Healed By His Wounds

1 Peter 2:9-10, 23-25
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, 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… When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Don’t we all love encouragement, positive messages and happy endings? Wouldn’t the world be a better place if everything was like in cartoons or those wonderful happy ending books which always left us wishing our lives were the same? The horrible reality is that even though God wanted us to have a happy life, we choose not to because we want to be the director, actor, costume designer, writer and the recipient of all the glory from the world. We like Adam and Eve want to take charge of our lives and therefore lose our way because we can only see the here and now as we are time bound. In this broken world, how can God call us a royal priesthood or a people of God? Is there any hope for us?

The Hardest Choice

1 Peter 1:13-16, 23-25
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”… For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.

There are several individuals who have made a significant impact on mankind and are remembered today much after they died but they account for not even a fraction of a fraction of number of people who have lived and died on earth. Most human lives will have been lived without much reason or purpose and that is the grim reality. Everyone tries, aspires, makes goals, fights hard but eventually leave without much to look forward to or little to leave back. Is this a reality we can accept and if we are tired of fighting a losing battle with no hope in sight, is there one that we can fight for and make a difference?