Saturday Night Devotions

Peter 3:10-11

     For he who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit.  Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.

     Peter begins the verse with an attention grabber.  Do you want to love your life?  Everyone wants to love their life – to feel enthused about their day, to feel fulfilled by their efforts and relationships, to find meaning and purpose and appreciation… and on and on.  Interestingly, different people enjoy some matters more than others.  Some enjoy work, some enjoy sports, some enjoy lounging alone or with friends.  It is fascinating, then, to see that this recommendation is made to everyone, regardless of their career, gender, or personality.  Peter says that no matter who you are or what you enjoy, if you want to have a great life, if you want to love your life, this is what you do:  First of all, you guard your tongue.  Perhaps this is not the suggestion we suspected.  But Peter joins James in teaching us that if want to enjoy life – not just help others enjoy their lives – but if we want to enjoy our life, we must control our tongue.  Don’t say mean things, don’t say rude things, don’t say vulgar things, and don’t say false things.  Peter boldly claims that if we will control our tongue, we will love life.  Secondly, Peter says that if we “would love life and see good days,” we should “turn away from evil and do good.”  Do no wrong – and not just that, but do good things for people.  If we will turn from sin and do good for others Peter claims that we will love life.  Perhaps not the formula others have proposed, but Peter is certain of his claim.  Thirdly, Peter says that if we want to love life we should “seek peace.”  In fact, we should “pursue” peace -- track it down, hunt it down, never lose the scent until we are at peace with those around us.  If we will intently pursue peaceful relations with others Peter claims that we will love life.  There it is, Peter’s secret for “good days” and loving life: control your tongue, turn from sin, do good things for people, and maintain peace in our relationships.  Perhaps just as fascinating as Peter’s claim that doing these things will result in a wonderful life is the fact that the idea is not original with him!  He is quoting from Psalm 34:12-14 in making this tremendous claim.  So we see that God’s plan for providing man with a wonderful life has not changed over time.  The key to loving life was the same in the Old Testament as it is in the New Testament, and logic dictates that this same key will open this great door in our day. 

Saturday Night Devotions

 

 

I Peter 3:9

     Not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.

     We are plainly called to be a blessing to others – and not only those who bless us, but bless even those who cause us pain.  Luke 6:28 says, “Bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.”  We are first called to bless those who curse us because that is the example Jesus gave us.  This same line “not returning reviling for reviling” was used to describe Jesus in I Peter 2:23.  As if that were not enough (and certainly it should be), the verse adds further impetus to blessing those around us by stating that we should bless others “that you may inherit a blessing.”  Let us first of all be diligent in being a blessing to those in our church.  Then let us seek to bless those who intentionally bring us distress, as in this verse, because doing so allows us to “inherit a blessing.”  If we did not realize it before now, let us take note that God blesses those who bless others.  Sometimes that blessing comes in heaven, sometimes His blessing comes to us right away.  “Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered (Proverbs 11:25, ESV).”

Saturday Night Devotions

I Peter 3:8

     Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous.

     Peter now turns from relationships in the home to relationships in the church.  It was to Peter that Jesus gave the appeal to “Feed my sheep” and now Peter passes that encouragement on to us.  He calls on us to be of one mind – not just unified in vision, but unified in the sense that we see the need to do all we can to look out for one another’s wellbeing.  As best we can we want to know our brother’s state of mind so that we can do what we can to add to his joy and his peace of mind.  We are to have sympathy, pity, courtesy, and compassion for all in the church.  If our thoughts toward are other believers tend to be harsh and critical, and it is difficult to remember the last time we provided encouragement for anyone in the church, we are in disobedience to this passage.  Let us avoid the temptation to be the church critic, and instead strive to be the church caretaker, not for the church grounds, but for the church people.  

Saturday Night Devotions

I Peter 3:7

     Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.

     Peter gave 6 verses of recommendations to wives and here gives his single verse of counsel to husbands.  He begins by admonishing husbands to live with their wives “with understanding.”  It is often made a matter of humor that men don’t understand women, but the humor ends with I Peter 3:7.  Men are here given the clear admonition to understand the needs, emotions, values, challenges, desires, and dreams of the wife God has given them.  If we admit that we do not understand any of these matters of our wife we are compelled here to fix that.  We are called to be men, not boys or beasts – and living without understanding our wife is unmanly.  Psalm 32:9 says, “Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you.”  Similarly, Psalm 49:20 says, “A man who is in honor, yet does not understand, is like the beasts that perish.”  Let us then stand like men and increase our understanding of our wives.  It is not just for the sake of our wife’s happiness that we seek understanding, it is for ours as well.  Proverbs 3:13 says, “Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding.”  And Proverbs 2:11 promises, “Discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you (ESV).”

    After being compelled to understand our wife, we are next told to give her honor, “as to the weaker vessel.”  In general, women do not have the physical strength of the husband.  Since that is so, men ought to respect, even marvel with appreciation all that women accomplish in their day.  Women who meet the needs of the family and community are doubly worthy of receiving honor from their husbands.  Husbands are not called here to honor their wives despite their weaker frame, but because of their weaker nature.  When a woman’s work load equals or exceeds her husbands, though she has less physical strength than he does, she is worthy of honor.  Romans 13:7 calls on us to give honor to whom honor is due, and Peter reminds us here that this certainly includes our wife.  Perhaps there are many ways to honor our wife, but Proverbs 31:28 mentions that a virtuous wife is praised by her husband.  Let us seek opportunity at home to privately praise our wife for her godly attributes, as well as seek appropriate opportunity to compliment her in public.

     After giving us this counsel to understand and honor our wife, Peter then gives us just cause for doing so.  He says first of all that we should honor and understand our wife because we are “heirs together of the grace of life.”  That is, our blessings from God, the grace that we receive from Him is bound up together in a single package.  A husband cannot hope to be richly blessed by God yet have his wife sadly miss out on the blessings.  When God blesses, He blesses the husband and wife together.  If we allow problems to creep into our marriage relationship, we will find problems creeping into our relationship with God.  We must see here that we are “heirs together.”  In many ways, what God gives the husband, He gives to the wife just the same.   He spells it out even more clearly in the next line, “that your prayers may not be hindered.”  Peter is saying, if you take care of your wife’s needs, God will take care of yours.  If you are the answer to your wife’s prayers, God will be the answer to yours.  If we fail our wife, however, we will find that our prayers fail with God – a frightening prospect.  Since the blessings that we receive from God are caught up inseparably from the blessings our wife receives from God, and since our prayers to God are hindered when our relationship with our wife is weakened, let us make all effort to make our marriage relationship a vital priority.   

Saturday night Devotions

I Peter 3:5-6

     For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror.

     For those with a desire to please God, it is helpful to have godly examples to follow, and Peter now gives godly women of today an example to help them see what it looks like to have a life that is pleasing to God.  He points to Sarah.  God had given her the name and title of “princess,” for that is what Sarah means, but the high esteem which God shows her does not cause her to decrease her respect for her husband, and in Genesis 18:12 she calls Abraham “my lord.”  Peter gives this as his only specific example of Sarah’s submissive attitude, and it seems to be enough.  She called her husband her lord and she “obeyed” him even when his plans were doubtful at best as when he told her to tell people she was his sister in Genesis 12.  Sarah is wonderfully blessed by the Lord (Genesis 17:16) and we are told here that women of today can become her daughters and thus heirs to her blessings if they “do good and are not afraid with any terror.”  Somehow Peter connects doing good with not being afraid.  Solomon did so too.  In Proverbs 3:25 Solomon says, “Do not be afraid of sudden terror, nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes.”  Then in Proverbs 3:27 he says, “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so.”  Sarah is the only one listed by name, but she is not our only example.  Peter says that all “the holy women who trusted in God” acted like this.  May the holy women of our day be encouraged to continue in this example to show submission, good works, and fearlessness, that they, too, might become daughters of Sarah, and like her, provide shining examples for the next generation to follow.

Saturday Devotions

I Peter 3:3-4

     Do not let your adornment be merely outward – arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel – rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. 

     Once again we are reminded to always maintain a heart to please God and not men.  If a woman’s goal is to catch a man’s eye, she can do that by making herself look attractive.  Hair and jewelry and clothes, adjusted just so can often have their desired effect on a man.  But what catches a man’s eye does not impress God in the least.  The eyes of the Lord are indeed roaming to and fro across the whole earth (II Chronicles 16:9)” but He is not looking for pretty people.  He is looking for those with “a gentle and quiet spirit” which He finds “very precious.”  For those of us blessed with a boisterous personality or the tendency to bellow like the sons of Boanerges (Luke 9:54), it may seem daunting to become “gentle and quiet.”  But we cannot dismiss this verse just because our natural tendencies go against it any more than a timid person can dismiss scripture’s calls to be bold.  Let us all seek to be gentle and of a quiet spirit – but it is reasonable to say, based on these verses, that women especially ought to seek to be gentle and of a quiet spirit – because this trait is very pleasing to our Lord.  In Psalm 18:35, David credits God with blessing him with success, and remarkably David says, “Your gentleness has made me great.”  May the women of today seek to imitate God and make their sons and husbands great through their own gentle spirit.  And may those who do so find that “Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her (Proverbs 31:28).” 

Warmed to the Gospel by the Common Cold

Warmed to the Gospel by the Common Cold

 I saw Mr. P, a 30 year old factory worker, in the clinic on Friday.  He came to see me for a cold.  Soon we were talking about his need for a relationship with God.  He said, “I need to study this some more.”

      “Great idea!”  I exuberantly agreed.  How about we meet Monday evening?  He agreed to come meet me after he (and I) finished work on the following Monday.  He showed up as promised and he and I then talked through who God is and what His expectations for man include.  After our evening talk, I asked him if he was ready to make the leap and place his trust in God.  He said yes!  Right there he prayed wonderfully, confessing sin and promising to follow God and bring Him honor.  It was a joy to see! 

     Please pray for him.  He works long hours and often works evenings and Sundays.  Pray that the Lord will call Mr. P to study his Bible and seek all opportunity to grow in his new faith.