God's word is powerful. I know I'm not telling anybody any big secret, but today I'm really thinking about that concept. It seems that no matter what is going on in the world around me, God brings me to exactly where I need to be in my Bible reading.
I have no great Bible reading plan in place. Shock and horror to those who are extremely organized in how they read the Bible, I know. I'm not "willy nilly" in where I'm reading, but I like to skip around a lot. I like to read the book of Nahum one day and glean something cool from it, and then be in the book of Peter then next. That's really not a random comment - that's exactly what has happened. Last week, I was in the book of Nahum. This week, the books of I and II Peter.
I've read quickly through both books, and then went back to I Peter. There is so much in I Peter. First, just the order of how the book is written. Peter concentrates the first chapter on the glorious nature of our salvation, our hope in Christ. He then moves on to tell us that because of our glorious hope in Christ, we are to be set apart - to be holy, purified by obeying the truth. The beginning of chapter 2 is where he begins to talk about our belonging to God - the fact that we are a chosen people - that I'm chosen for His priesthood. The reason I'm chosen - I Peter 2:9 - that I may declare the praises of him who called me out of darkness into His wonderful light.
Then the hard stuff comes. Peter concentrated the first part of this book on exclaiming the magnificence of salvation and the high calling of God. He finishes that part of the book and quickly moves into the...."You are to submit to these things" part. In other words, here's what you've been given, now here's what you should give.
Right off the bat - verse 13 - submit to the Lord, verse 14 to governors; verse 17 show respect to everyone, love the brotherhood of believers, fear God and honor the king. All summed up in verse 17. Respect, love, fear and honor. Four words extremely hard to put into practice.
I think what stood out for me the most in this chapter is our calling to honor the king. Not the throne or authority of the king, but the king, himself. Sometimes it is difficult to honor the leader of the land, and in our case, the king is the President. I often have found myself critical of the President - whether it was President Bush, Clinton, Bush #1. I often have found myself laughing at stupid things the President, at the time, may have said or done. I have said those things disrespectfully, no doubt. The Bible is clear - honor the King. To honor, according to Webster, is to revere, respect, reverence, to dignify, to raise to distinction or notice. In other words, honor means to raise the King/President to a higher status.
Now is my opportunity. We have a new President. It is my opportunity to practice what Peter calls me out to do - respect everyone, love the brotherhood of the believers, fear my God and honor my President. None of those things are easy to do every day. It is not easy to respect individuals who do me wrong. There is no distinction. It is clear - I am to respect everyone. It is not easy to love the brotherhood of believers. The brotherhood of believers can be hurtful, judgmental, and lack grace. I am to love the brotherhood of believers in spite of that. I am to fear my God, even when I feel, in humanity, that He has abandoned me or sent me through a valley that I do not wish to walk through. I am to fear my God. Lastly, I am to honor the king. Not the office of the king, but the king himself. I did not agree with President Bush on a lot of things, but I wasn't called to agree with him, I was called to honor him. President Obama will make mistakes, and I will be unhappy with some of his decisions, too. I am called to pray for him I am called to honor him. That is the responsibility that I'm laid with because of my status in His (God's) Kingdom. I am a chosen people. I've been given a gift and my responsibility is to use that gift wisely.
Respect, love, fear and honor. That is what I'm called to do. Never easy but always commanded. How will I show these today?
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1 comment:
I wrote a little bit on the "honor" part, as well. But, you delved into all of those commands - which, when you think about it (as you have), are all quite challenging. Thank you for expounding and making me think.
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