Read with Me
1 Peter 4:7-11 (HCSB)
Now the end of all things is near; therefore, be serious and disciplined for prayer. Above all, maintain an intense love for each other, since love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. Based on the gift each one has received, use it to serve others, as good managers of the varied grace of God. If anyone speaks, it should be as one who speaks God’s words; if anyone serves, it should be from the strength God provides, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything. To Him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
Listen with Me
Peter’s focus in this chapter has been the reality of the final judgment, and the fact that as people of the kingdom, we must live out our lives in the full realization that we will be accountable before God for how we have done that. So, he starts this section with a clear statement that the end of all things is near.
Of course, Peter had no idea exactly when the end of all things would actually come. Jesus Himself said that even He had no idea of the timing, but that only the Father knew for sure (Matthew 24:36). But Peter’s warning was true to his first-generation readers, and it is equally valid for those of us reading his words today. Since the timing of Jesus’ return is imminent, it is nearer each day than it was the day before. Even though He has not yet returned, the reality is that each individual life is finite, and our end could come at any moment, and wherever we are spiritually when that end does come is where we will be at the final judgment.
Therefore, Peter warns each reader to make sure we live prepared, with clear minds, and solid control of our actions and appetites, so that our prayers, our communion with God, is not interrupted. And each person’s focus must be on living out the reality of the incarnation in our own lives.
Peter emphasizes several focuses in this reality, agape love demonstrated in each life being preeminent. That agape love fuels all the other positive attributes listed, such as hospitality and the use of the various giftings manifested by the Holy Spirit, not selfishly, but for the building up and effectiveness of the whole body. Peter makes no effort to give an exhaustive list of gifts and graces. Instead, his list is merely representative, with the emphasis not on the gifts themselves, but in their use to bring glory to God, and to lift up the name of Jesus so that more may believe and be saved.
Pray with Me
Father, nearly 2000 years have passed since Peter wrote these words, but You are right that at every moment the end of all things is imminent for every human being. None of us is guaranteed another breath. And we need to live our lives with that reality in the very front of our minds. I especially like Peter’s statement that agape love covers a multitude of sins. I can see that that doesn’t mean that agape love simply ignores those sins ore treats them as if they don’t matter, but instead, it puts them to death and buries them deeply, so that they no longer have power to hurt or divide us from one another. We really need that today in the Church and in our wider society, where so many hurts and resentments are being allowed to fester and divide us so deeply that it sometimes seems impossible for true reconciliation to be possible. But, as always, You lead the way to wholeness and holiness through the reality of Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Amen.