Seeds for 06/04/2024 - 1 Peter 4:7
Scripture:
The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray.
Observation:
One of the excellent things about reading and rereading the scriptures is that reading one passage or line brings to mind another story or passage. The voices are working together, sometimes in harmony, sometimes in countermelody, to produce a magnificent work. In simple terms, we often find that scripture illustrates and illuminates scripture.
In these next several verses in 1 Peter, I’d like to share observations about what other biblical stories or passages are evoked by his pithy exhortations here.
Today, Peter’s words take me to Luke 22:39-44, when Jesus is praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and His disciples followed Him. On reaching the place, He said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him. And being in anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
Jesus had come down to the end. The end of His mission, the end of His ministry with His disciples, the end of His earthly life. It was an intense time of stress and emotion.
This is the sort of time when we might sense ourselves unraveling. Keeping our mind sharp and focused becomes difficult.
Peter exhorts his readers to “be alert and of sober mind.” Why? So they can handle the strain? So they can use their reason and intelligence to work out a way forward? No.
These might be fine objectives in just such a situation, but for disciples of Jesus, the highest and best use of our alert and sober mental faculties is “so that you may pray.”
When we are able to keep our wits about us, we are tempted to lean on our wits primarily in order to navigate our challenges. God wants us to use what He’s given us, for sure. However, our wits are best employed in the service of prayer.
For Jesus, an incredibly intense and stressful situation was best addressed by keeping His head about Him in order to intentionally engage in prayer.
Application:
Can you remember a time when you had to come to your senses before you really began to pray through a hard situation?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, keep my mind sober and alert, not so that I depend on my mind, but so that I turn my attention to you. 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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