Today is April 28th.

May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.

Take a moment and quiet yourself. Take a deep breath. Welcome God’s presence. And say, “Come Holy Spirit.”

Today’s reading is from 1 Peter 2.

"13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. 16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. 17 Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor."

There are several tricky words in this text: submit, ignorant, slaves, fear, respect. What do you usually do when you come across parts of scripture that seem outdated or feel problematic? Do you dig in, research, and work to understand more deeply? Do you just skip over hard sections? Or do you feel offense, and immediately stop reading?

As you listen to the text again, can you listen to it from a curious vantage point? What is Peter telling the church about how to live as Christians? What tensions do you hear in the passage? Where do you personally feel challenged by Peter?

"13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. 16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. 17 Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor."

There’s something in this text about how our attitudes and actions as Christians are meant to be a reflection of our faith in God. Peter says elsewhere that we’re a peculiar people. A chosen people. Christians are meant to be non-conformists. Stand out, Peter tells us, but for the right reasons… and in all we do, our actions should bring honor to God. We’re free, Peter tells us, but not for our own sake. For Christ’s sake. As we close our time of prayer ask yourself: how does your life demonstrate the peculiar nature of a follower of Jesus? Are there places where your decisions, your behaviors, your attitudes… look more like the rest of the world than like a follower of the narrow way of Jesus?

Music Credit:
"You Have Our Yes" - Vineyard Worship (YouTube)