living as servants...

March 4, 2013

1 Peter 2:13-16

V 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil but living as servants of God

“…living as servants of God” that’s the hard part right. That’s the part that trips everyone up because we still have sinful natures that get in the way of doing what we know is right. We know what scripture tells us. We know how we are to act; how we are to conduct ourselves, but it’s the carrying out those things that become the problem. It’s when our flesh starts to control us rather than the spirit that cause us the problems. I like Peter. He perhaps is one of my favorite people in the bible (apart from Jesus and Rahab, of course!!) I like Peter because he sometimes allowed his emotions to control him, and although that is certainly wrong, he came back, he repented, and he became an incredible man of God. He shows that even though we may sin, which we undoubtedly will, we can still be of use to God and His Kingdom, and His Church. We aren’t just given one opportunity and once we mess up that’s it. This is not an excuse to sin but it is a comfort when we do. Despite his failures, Peter was still used by God. Peter also shows us that God doesn’t simply ignore our sin. There is responsibility and discipline; forever more written in the pages of scripture we have evidence of that, we can read of Peter’s denial of Jesus. I can imagine that Peter would have preferred not to be reminded of that constantly.