In First Peter 4:7-19 we hear: “Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.”
We are called to fill up each day with the fuel of the Lord and to set out with the gifts that God has given each of us and serve one another. Peter is saying to do this not only with our family and friends, but with all whom we contact each day whether at work or at play. It is in this way that God is glorified through Christ Jesus.
Peter spoke to the believers about the ordeals that were before them. He was speaking about the persecution that they were being tested with because of their choice to embrace Jesus Christ as their Savior. He said to them, “But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed.” In our lives, even as we fill up with the fuel of the Lord and set out with good purposes, we will be attacked and tested in many ways.
Have you ever felt that no matter how hard you try, that things keep going wrong and people keep getting in your way and work against you? It makes us say, “Why should I serve these people with my God given gifts? They don’t deserve my attention. I would be better off without them.”
This is the work of the devil in us trying to pull us away from God. When Jesus returned from being baptized in the river Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for forty days (Luke 4) He was tempted by the devil in many ways. But He resisted the devil saying, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’”
The believers that Peter was talking to were under attack because of their belief in Jesus Christ. Although we are not always attacked specifically for our faith in our Lord Jesus, the devil moves against us through others to undermine our commitment to serve and love one another as Jesus has told us to do. Peter reminds us of our blessings even in turmoil in saying, “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you.” (1 Peter 4:14)
