Begin with 2 minutes of stillness and silence before God.

Around 64 AD, the famous Emperor Nero was accused by the people of Rome of being responsible for the great fire that consumed almost three-quarters of the city. To deflect these accusations, Nero had a few Christians arrested and tortured until they allegedly implicated some other Christians. Nero used this to lay the blame on Christians in general and basically declared open season on Christians. This set off a period of horrible persecution where Christians were rounded up and put to death in the most horrific ways for the entertainment of the Romans. I am giving you this brief history lesson so we can better understand Peter’s intentions with this letter. Most historians agree that Peter lived in Rome during these times and was a witness to what was coming. I believe, as you read his words, you can sense that he is trying to prepare his fellow Christians for the days ahead and encourage them that their eternal future is imperishable.

Can you feel Peter’s reassurance as he tells us in verses 3-4 that it is God’s great mercy that allowed us to benefit from Jesus’s resurrection and obtain an inheritance that is; a) imperishable b) undefiled c) will not fade away d) reserved in heaven for you? I’ll take one of each, please. And what kind of inheritance would that be? Only one that would be customary for the child of a King.

Now verse 6 caused me to wince a bit. Peter says to continue to praise although for a “little while” you have been “distressed by various trials”. Two areas here I would like to unpack. The first is a “little while”. Do you know how hard it is for us as humans to grasp our definition of time versus God’s? We are so bad at this because we cannot even remotely understand eternity. I heard it described like this one time. If you took a block of granite, measuring 1 mile X 1 mile X 1 mile, and had a bird come land on this block of granite and sharpen his bill. By the time this bird sharpened his bill enough that he ground down the block of granite to a pile of dust, that would equal 1 day in eternity. That helped me, just a little bit, put eternity in perspective. So, regardless of how long this “little while” was or how long the “little while” is in our life, it really pales to the everlasting life God has promised. The second area is related to “distressed by various trials”. God, please, please, please forgive me when I whine about trials that really are not trials. Take a quick inventory with me. I woke up this morning in a warm house. I opened the closet and had enough clothes to choose from to dress an 11th grade class. I opened the pantry and it looked like a Sam’s commercial. No one bombed my city last night. No checkpoints to drive through to get to town. My church is sitting there right out in the open. Now, don’t let me minimize trials. I have certainly had my share, and I know you have also. But thus far, no one has tried to feed me to the lions for writing this devotion.

Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence.

Reflection:

• Please pause today and be encouraged that God’s love, His presence, and His word, will remain long after this world passes away, and He has promised to save you a spot.
• Do you, can you, really picture yourself as receiving an inheritance from the King of all kings?
• How can you allow God to work through your trials?

Family Devo: 1 Peter 1

By: Katie Curtis

When partnering with your family to know, love, and follow Jesus, we strive to create and share content filtered by the Head-Heart-Hands model.   

Head: the knowledge of God and His Word | Heart: the personal connection from scripture | Hands: a missional mindset  

Head

Today is our first day reading the book of 1 Peter. 1 Peter is actually a letter written by the apostle Peter to the Christians living in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). You may recognize the author of the letter - Peter was one of Jesus’ twelve disciples, and we learn a lot about him in the Gospels and the book of Acts. What’s your favorite story about Peter? Maybe when he walks on water with Jesus or when Jesus gives him a miraculously huge catch of fish? My favorite story about Peter is when Jesus forgives Peter for denying him and gives him the job of “feeding (His) sheep,” meaning that Peter is going to be an important leader in the early church. In this letter, Peter is obeying Jesus’ command to take care of the family of believers by encouraging and instructing them.

Heart

These believers definitely need some encouragement. They are being persecuted and mistreated because of their faith in Jesus. Peter reminds them that because of Jesus they have a “living hope.” The Greek word that Peter uses for hope can be translated to “confident expectation.” Many times when I use the word hope, I really mean a wish or a tentative belief. I may “hope” my team wins the game or that I make a good grade on the test or that I get invited to the party...but those are just desires without real certainty behind them. Peter says that we have a hope that we can be confident in, and - more than that - our hope is living. This hope abides with us, perseveres with us, and walks with us through life’s tough days. This hope doesn’t mean that everything is going to turn out the way we want it to. Instead, this living hope gives us the confident expectation that God is with us and for us through all of life’s joys and sorrows. We desperately need this hope because, as Peter says in verse 6, in this life, we will “suffer grief in all kinds of trials.” Trials come in many forms: unkind peers at school, disappointments, failures, or the loss of someone we love. Through all of these trials, God never leaves us, and Peter states that these trials are actually treasures that strengthen our faith which is “of greater worth than gold.” Confession: I don’t always love “all kinds of trials,” but I am so thankful that God never leaves us during the hard times. Even more than that, He turns our hard times into something beautiful.

Hands

Can you think of a time when you or someone you love faced something difficult and God brought something beautiful out of that time? Take some time to thank God for His faithfulness. Do you know someone who is facing a trial right now? Take some time to pray for them and send them an encouraging message.

Prayer: Thank You, God, for giving us a living hope. Thank You for bringing good things out of the difficulties of life. Please strengthen my hope in You, and help me to encourage others who are facing trials. I love You! In Jesus’ name, Amen.