Yearly Archive: 2009

Maybe that's why Peter says what he does in verse 17. In my continuing reading, this verse just hangs there at the end of another phrase. What he says is that it is better that we suffer for doing what is right, rather than for doing what is wrong.

Kind of sounds like one of those things parents say to kids to get them to behave, or explain why they should not do something bad. [more]

On the face of it, it sounds like doing the "right thing" is going to cost us something. Something worse than any punishment (bad treatment, people not wanting to be around us, not getting invited to parties, etc.) that could be heaped on us for doing something wrong. Kind of makes me wonder what Peter saw going on around him, but you just have to go back to the beginning of the letter to understand.

The challenge here in this verse (I Peter 3:17) is the summation of verses 13-16. We are to not be afraid of the punishment for doing what is right, but rather fear the punishment for not doing what is right. You know, that gut feeling you get when you passed by someone being mistreated (and you didn't say a word), or the stranger who needed money or clothes or food and you didn't help.

How about all those "heroes" who rushed into flaming buildings or to the scene of an accident and "helped" because they "felt" it was the right thing to do. They were put there for some reason that they could not explain, and did the right thing. It cost some of them their lives (physically or emotionally), or friends or family. God sometimes has to push us to the front of a crowd so that we can speak out. Other times, we go kicking and screaming. When we do what is right, we give, by our actions "an account for the hope in us. (what we believe)" It is our witness for Him.

They keep pouring down, requiring some kind of definition(s). Continuing to read in First Peter, and could not let "bless" just get passed over. It appears so often in our everyday speech, and of course, it's all over the Bible. At first, trying to find a definition was like putting toothpaste back in the tube – in other words, it wasn't easy.

Looking up definitions online was of some help, but the problem there were the number of definitions. Basically, it boils down to "gaining God's favor" or being honored or special. When you are blessed, you are more holy. There was even one definition that linked the english "bless" with a germanic "blessing" (can't type german or old saxon) that was related to the spilling of blood.[more]

Finally, they tied the old germanic "bless" back to the Old Testament where blood had to be spilled to make the offering "special." Interesting, that the further back you go, the more meaning words sometime have. Think about that, the thing that made the offering special was the spilling of blood. And that is just what Peter is talking about here in chapter 3, where he talks about "Christ died for our sins…"

Peter's challange starts in verse 9 where he wants us to "bless rather than curse (insult)" just because we have been blessed. It continues where he urges us to "sanctify Christ (set Him apart) as our leader." Interesting that he uses the term "set apart" – it's kind of like there can only be one leader.

There is more here, so don't go away. This chapter is full of challenges and can't be glossed over.

We all may have thought of that as a twenty or twenty-first bit of slang, but let me tell you, that goes back to the time of Moses!

My reading today took me to First Peter chapter 3, and right there was "the Face of the Lord is against…" Whoa! Where did that come from? Peter was actually quoting David in one of the Psalms, but it got me doing some digging.[more]

Seems that whenever the people (Jewish usually, since it was their God) did some stupid things or thought they were better than God, He "set His face against them." You can check it out yourself in many places in the Old Testament. When they got God ticked off at them – there it was. God effectively said "You messed up and didn't follow directions, so you are on your own." And there was the enemy ready to defeat them.

What do we mean when we say that we're "gonna get up in their face?" In no uncertain words, we are going to tell them off and walk away in a huff. Oh, by the way – most definitely leave them to stew over what you are mad about and let them fail on their own.

Worse yet, how do we feel when some one "gets up in our face?" What's our reaction? What do we change? More importantly, how long does it take us to change?