Big Idea: When you are trying to control, ask if it is worth your concern.
Scripture: 1 Peter 1:3-9 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Devotion: There are 24 hours in a day, which means there are 168 hours in a week. This means that there are 8,736 hours in a year. Of that, about 2,920 hours are spent sleeping. This leaves you with 5,816 hours in year. Or 112 hours in a week. Or 16 hours in a day. By the time you add in work, there isn’t a ton of time left in the day. With only a certain number of hours in the day, and throughout our lives, it is worth evaluating what we spend time concerned about.
Yes, there are things in this life that are worth our concern. The Bible gives countless examples of being concerned for your neighbor, your family, the fugitive, the foreigner, the oppressed, and on and on. But, when it comes to the idea of control, we can have a bigger perspective. That’s exactly what today’s passage of scripture does.
Here are some words and phrases that stood out to me: living hope, inheritance, shielded by God’s power, rejoice, filled with inexpressible and glorious joy. When I evaluate all that I am trying to control and ask if it is worth my concern, I want my first filter to be this scripture. The promise of these things given when we submit our lives to Christ is greater than anything in this world. And the things that I should be most concerned about include making sure others can hear about Jesus and experience these same things.
When we live in light of the crucifixion and resurrection, other issues and problems that we face grow smaller. When we live in light of the hope and joy that we receive from Jesus, our concerns shift. With limited hours in my days, I want to put my efforts and concern toward spreading that hope and that joy. I don’t want to waste time grasping for control in various areas of my life. Instead, I long to surrender that over so that I can experience inexpressible and glorious joy.
Let’s strive to fill our days with the joy that comes from our living hope, Jesus. Let’s recognize that when we fix our gaze on Him, anything else we may be going through seems much less important. Let’s focus our concern on sharing the good news and all that is experienced because of it.
Reflect:
- What areas do you naturally have concern for? How might you use those areas to glorify God? Or, do you need to set aside those areas to more fully press into the abundant life that is found in Jesus?
