1 Peter - Following Jesus Sample

There is only one salvation event left on God’s calendar. Jesus ‘is ready to judge the living and the dead’ (4:5). We don’t know when that day of judgment and salvation will be. It could be any time. Jesus is ready to come. We need to be ready for his coming.

• The world as we know it will not last forever. How does Peter describe ‘the end of all things’ (v. 7)?

We must not mentally park Jesus’ second coming on some distant horizon in our thinking. We must not forget about it. We need to keep Jesus’ coming at the forefront of our minds. Peter says it is ‘near’. That is how we should think of it.

How we think is so important. Three times in this letter Peter calls on his readers to be alert and sober in their thinking. He must believe that this is very important!

The opposite of being sober-minded is thinking like someone who is drunk. When someone is drunk they are out of touch with reality and out of control. They may lose any clear grasp of who they are and where they are. They may be unaware of dangers which surround them. They may sleepwalk straight into all sorts of risk and difficulty.

Peter does not want his friends to go through life thinking like a drunk. He wants them to keep their thinking clear. We need to stay switched on to reality. Jesus is coming. It will happen. It could be anytime. When we see that clearly, it will change how we see everything else. We won’t lose sight of what is most important: that we keep trusting and following Jesus, and that we help others do that too.

• What effect will staying alert have?

One reason we don’t pray is that we get distracted by all sorts of things. Our heads buzz with the urgent and we lose sight of the important. But when we are thinking clearly, we will remember what is coming. We mustn’t give up on speaking about Jesus. We mustn’t give up on following him, despite the suffering that will bring. How much we need God’s help to keep going!

So don’t be muddle-headed in your spiritual thinking. Remember that Jesus’ coming is near. Remember how dependent you are on God. Cry to him for help. Pray!

Pray

Pray you would stay alert and prayerful, remembering that the end of all things is near.