Peter
has been sharing ways to grow in the knowledge of God the Father and
His Son Jesus Christ. The benefit to such growth will eventually lead
to this statement “an entrance shall be ministered unto
you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ” as we saw
written in verse eleven of the first chapter. In chapter one verse
twelve, Peter tells us his aim to continually remind us of the things
he has written. He wrote:
Wherefore I will not be
negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though
you know them, and be established in the present truth.
The
verse begins, “Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you
always in remembrance of these things,”. Because of the
importance of the entrance we shall receive, Peter employs the word
“Wherefore” which again means “in conclusion, because
of, for this reason” and should always make us look at what was
written before it. Since the everlasting kingdom of Jesus Christ and
our entrance into it is so important, Peter “will not be
negligent” to continually remind us of “these things”.
They are too important for us to forget. They are imperative that we
keep them in mind, and because of their great significance, Peter
will go over and over them again.
The
verse goes on to add, “though you know them,”
Peter acknowledges that those to whom he is writing know the things
of which he writes, and yet, he still writes them again. The idea is
to make solid once again that which is already known. Just because
they knew these things did not keep Peter from sharing them. Their
importance superseded any resistance to him seeming redundant.
Finally
the verse says, “ and be established in the present truth.”
Herein lies the goal of Peter to his readers. He wants them to be
“established” which means “to make stable, place firmly,
set fast, fix, strengthen, render constant, or confirm”. Peter's
desire was to be sure that those to whom he wrote were strongly
within the “present truth”. Peter was well aware of the
tendency to leave the truth for false teaching, and the draw of
temptation from the world could lead those within the faith to fall.
Peter's desire is to remind them of the doctrines of the faith to
such a degree that nothing would be able to persuade them away from
the truth.
Redundancy
may seem monotonous and boring at times. There is a tendency within
us to fend off things we have heard in the past. Our minds may grow
numb when we listen to teachings or doctrine of which we are
well-versed. However, let this scripture be a reminder to us that we
should be taught things over and over again. Because of the
importance and significance of the kingdom of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ, reminders serve to keep us within the faith and ready
to answer anyone who asks us about it. May the Lord remind us daily
of His important truths that we may be firmly established within Him.
Next
time Peter will share how long he will be reminding his readers, so
read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation” and the new marriage book “So, You Want
to Be Married” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ;
www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
No comments:
Post a Comment