True & Beautiful Things About the Bible--New Testamentનમૂનો

The Letter of 1 Peter: Kept

There once was a man who lived by the sea…

The young man, Peter, fished on the Sea of Galilee until the day Jesus Christ walked up to his boat and invited him to “follow Me.”

Along with his nets, Peter had to drop a lot of expectations that day of what his life would be like. His life turned upside down in the 30 years that followed. He was the first among Jesus’ disciples to declare who Jesus really is. You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” (Matthew 16:16) And he never looked back.

As the years went on, long after Jesus returned to heaven, Peter kept himself under Jesus’ power. He grew into a seasoned minister who identified and served his believing family. As Peter wrote to the followers of Jesus scattered around the Mediterranean, he spoke their common language—suffering. The world was on fire for these early Christians. Nero’s reign of terror was raging. False teachers inflicted doubt and harm. The Christians didn’t know who to trust.

When they read Peter’s first letter calling them to hope in the Lord, and to endure the hardship as “strangers and exiles,” they likely hung on every word, but one word might have stood out.

Peter reminded them that they were kept by the power of God. Nothing would be lost.

This true and beautiful reality still carries us today. No persecution, no disease, not even death itself will weaken or threaten God’s protective hand on our lives. No matter how hard life gets, no enemy can take our salvation from us. No matter what happens to our bodies, Jesus Christ keeps our souls.

So keep following Him through the suffering, Peter wrote. The Lord Jesus will bring you home. You're sure salvation is being guarded by God’s power and kept in heaven for you.

If Peter had learned anything in these upside-down decades, it was that the only way we can live the Christian life is to humble ourselves before God and be kept by God’s power. It’s also the only way to live—right on through till the day when we see Him in glory.

It wasn’t long after Peter wrote this letter that he himself was crucified—an ironic and tragic end, we would say. But it wasn’t the end at all.

Just a moment after Peter breathed his last, he was welcomed into heaven by his Savior and friend, Jesus Christ, who had loved him, protected him, and kept him all along. Imagine the joy of that reunion . . .

Next: How can I grow closer to God?