living in two worlds

1 Peter 4:¹⁸ Now 
      " If the righteous one is scarcely saved,
      Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?"

 ¹⁹ Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.

 

We all live in two worlds...the world of "here and now" and the world of eternity that lies beyond death's gateway.  First Peter, chapter 4, has a lot to say about living "here and now" with a mindset that includes the "hereafter".  I don't know what kind of challenges and choices we'll face when we've passed completely into the next life, but it is clear that many of the choices we make here echo in Heaven and have ripples through the lives of others living alongside us that can make a difference in their eternal experience.  It is because there is a "hereafter" that we have perspective on living "here".  This chapter discusses those who live only for the temporary satisfactions of the flesh...it even discusses wild partying and drinking and carousing...the kind of activities that make total sense if there is no life beyond this life...but we have come to know, through God's gracious revelation and via the window of faith, that there is life and there is God and there will be a time when we are face-to-face and one-on-one with our Creator.   Even though it has been a few thousand years since Peter wrote his letter, the words couldn't be truer that "the end of all things is at hand" (from verse 7), because we will go to Him or He will come for us within the span of our lives.  It is sobering and refreshing to be challenged by words like these as we move out into the world today: 1Peter 4:¹¹ If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

 

A heavy thought can bring light.

 

blessings,

Rob Smith