SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
4/3/2012 9:52:07 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Commit yourself to God
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: 1Peter 4:19
Message of the verse: “19
Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall
entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.” (NASB-95)
Commit Yourself to God (1Peter 4:19): “19
So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what
is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never
fail you.” (NLT) “19
Therefore these who suffer according to God’s will can safely commit
their souls to their faithful Creator, and go on doing all the good they can.”
(Philips) 19 For this reason let those
who by the purpose of God undergo punishment, keep on in well-doing and put
their souls into the safe hands of their Maker.” (BBE)
“19 Therefore let those who
suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while
doing good.” (ESV)
In the
Philips paraphrase version of the Bible, which is seen above, the word “commit”
is used, while the NASB says “entrust” and so does the ESV. This word can be used as a banking term where
one puts their funds into a bank and receives interest for those funds. In the same way we as believers when we
suffer for the cause of Christ can put ourselves into God’s bank and we will
always receive eternal dividends on our investment.
In the US
we have the FDIC that is suppose to bring us great comfort when we deposit our
funds into a US bank, for if the bank goes under the funds are insured. However when we belong to God who loves us,
who has purchased us, and who lives in us and promised to one day take us to
heaven we can totally put our faith and trust in Him, and we can commit our
lives to Him even though we suffer for the cause of Christ, for we know that
God is faithful.
Dr. Wiersbe
writes “this commitment is not a single action but a constant attitude. ‘Be constantly committing’ is the force of
the admonition. How do we do this? ‘By means of well doing.’ As we return good
for evil and do good even though we suffer for it, we are committing ourselves
to God so that He can care for us. This
commitment involves every area of our lives and every hour of our lives.”
It may sound
strange to some that Peter calls God “a faithful Creator” and not a faithful
Judge, which of course He is. Peter knew
that it was the Creator who provided food and clothing to those persecuted
Christians, and it was the faithful Creator who protects them in times of
danger.
Dr. Wiersbe
finishes his commentary with the following paragraph: “Before God pours out His wrath on this evil
world, a ‘fiery trial’ will come to God’s church, to unite and purify it, that
it might be a strong witness to the lost.
There is nothing for us to fear if we are suffering in the will of
God. Our faithful Father-Creator will
victoriously see us through!”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: When Paul wrote to the believers in Philippi
he told them in verse 4:11b that he had learned to be content and we can see
from his second letter to the Corinthian church in chapter eleven that it was
through persecution that he had learned to be content. This is what Peter is telling his readers who
were about to go through some difficult persecutions because it would be about
a year after his readers received this letter that Rome would burn and Nero
would blame it on the Christians and so the persecution would begin and it
would be very difficult. There is a
story in the 32nd chapter of Jeremiah which helps us to understand
how our faith should not waver even when persecution comes. Jeremiah was in prison and the Babylonians
were attacking Jerusalem, about to destroy it, when his cousin comes to sell
him a piece of property and because it was of the Lord Jeremiah bought the
property because God told him that the children of Israel would return and
build houses once again. It took faith
to do this and it takes great faith to endure persecution, but God is in
control and one day He will judge all who have caused the troubles in the
world.
4/3/2012 3:24:05 PM
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