Monday Devotional: April 10, 2023

Bible Reading: 1 Peter 1:3-9 (NRSVUE)

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead ⁴ and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, ⁷ so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸ Although you have not seen him, you love him, and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, ⁹ for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Peter and the other disciples do not know what lies ahead. The suffering and death of Jesus have tested them beyond their strength. And yet, they live through it to testify to God’s power to bring life out of death, love out of fear, courage and strength out of grief and despair. This new realization of the scope and power of God’s grace to save the people reconfigures Peter’s entire life story. It gives him a living hope that burns within him his entire life.

Just as Thomas would not believe without seeing, Peter commends those who “have not seen him” yet “love him.” The Resurrection brings new birth, inheritance, and salvation to those who love Jesus. The new birth brings relationship within the family of faith. And thus we have a living hope.

We witness God’s power at work in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, a power that controls even death. Therein lies our hope of eternal life- both now and beyond this life. Peter tells us that this power is what makes all the difference in human life. Despite the suffering we experience, we can “rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy.”

Genuine faith comes as an imperishable gift that, like gold itself, cannot perish even when tested by fire. God will guard the wavering faith of the disciples, just as God continues to guard our hearts even when we waver in our faith. Our love for Jesus Christ is kept secure, beyond anything that we ourselves can do to secure it. Even though we have not seen the resurrected Jesus, we nevertheless love him. God’s action of placing faith in our hearts becomes a source of unutterable joy, for it is beyond all our own wavering doubts and self-questioning.

Prayer

Gracious and almighty God, when trials grieve us, may we put our complete trust in you. Strengthen us to act on our love for Jesus even when we cannot see or comprehend your miraculous work among us. Amen.

By Deborah Van Deusen Hunsinger, The Upper Room Disciplines 2017, page 140.