"In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials." (1 Peter 1:6)
For most of us in the "West," there are not the, "all kinds of trials", which most in the Church have suffered throughout history. Yet, there are, "all kinds of trials."
What is yours today? By my statement above I do not mean to minimize the, "all kinds of trials," which you experience in your life time. I do believe, however, that the greeting of Peter to, "the temporary residents," is a reminder of Biblical teaching that this, "three score and ten," or, "four score," years which we have in, "the Dispersion," are such a "small" portion of our Eternal Life in Jesus Christ that we can say with Paul, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."
My Grandfather Barnette saw something in his last moments as one of the, "temporary residents," which I shall never forget, and the thought has occurred to me many times over the years that only a person who has the expectation of Eternity can see what he saw. One of his, "trials," was that he lost 4 of his 5 sons. The oldest of them was only 12 years old. There were many other, "trials," which Grandpa and Grandma Barnette experienced in their life time, but they were living examples of Titus 2, "....looking for the Blessed hope and glorious appearing of our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ...."
Yes, of course, we are to give ourselves to Jesus Christ, His Church, His Kingdom in serving humanity; waste no time being as Peter writes later in the Epistle, "as each one has received a gift, serve one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." And in the totality of our daily walk in Jesus Christ, obeying, serving, loving, we never cease, "....looking for the Blessed hope and glorious appearing of our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ...."
Father, in Jesus' Name, I do. Amen.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
