Seeds for 06/07/2024 - 1 Peter 4:10
Scripture:
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
Observation:
Scripture illuminates and illustrates scripture, as we have noted the past several days. There’s a peculiar delight in noticing how various passages and verses in the Bible resonate with one another. Here’s what I’m observing today.
“As faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” means that the gifts of grace we have received are not for our own benefit so much as for the benefit of others.
Stewardship indicates responsibility. As a former pastor of mine once said, “the church is the only organization in the world that exists for the benefit of its non-members.” He meant, of course, that the church’s posture in the world is to be outward focused: Who needs to experience the love of God and come to faith in Christ? Who needs to experience the uplifting work of God’s kingdom? This is the work of the church. That same pastor would say that “church membership is not about “rights and privileges, but responsibilities.”
This straightforward sentence from Peter evokes the calling of Abraham in Genesis 12:1-5.
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you;
I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
“I will bless you… and you will be a blessing.”
Abraham’s calling is paradigmatic for the people of God down through the ages.
“…and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Here we find a wonderful hint toward the Great Commission, that the Gospel invitation is for everyone, and of John 3:16-17, that Jesus died for all to reconcile and restore us to God.
Application:
When has God given you opportunity to use your gifts to bless others?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, you have blessed me with grace upon grace. Put me to work blessing others in your name. 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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