Seeds for 05/17/2024 - 1 Peter 3:15a
Scripture:
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord.
Observation:
The immediate prior verse here relates to Peter’s discussion of suffering for doing good: “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” The quotation is from Isaiah 8:12. Threats can get into our hearts like the cold can sneak inside the collar of our shirts and chill our whole body. So, Peter contrasts this with the instruction, “in your hearts revere Christ as Lord.”
Why? Because, as Proverbs says, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Threats of suffering can make us afraid—so afraid it can seep into our hearts. But when we “revere Christ as Lord,” we have someone greater and more fearsome in our heart than any threat, even very real ones. Only this Fearsome One is on our side and has subjected Himself to humilitation, torture, and death for our sake. Though He was greater than His accusers, interrogators, judges, and executioners, He submitted to them so that we might share in His victory over the powers of the world, sin, and death.
When we “revere Christ as Lord,” we are putting any threat that might scare us in the context of the great and powerful Lord, through whom all creation came into being and who demonstrated that mastery by quieting the storm with a word.
Another way of expressing Peter’s point here is found in the first letter of John: “the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”
Amen!
Application:
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, give me a heart for steadfast reverence of you and let your love and power cast out fear of anything else. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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