1 Peter 4:9-10a
“Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another…”
Many years ago, it was popular for Christians to display a JESUS IS LORD bumper sticker for all to see. That’s a great statement, but it’s pretty ineffective unless the person behind the wheel shows others what it looks like in real life. It’s in the living out of Scripture that others get a sense of the degree to which Jesus is LORD in our life. Consider the command to “be hospitable to one another without grumbling.” Notice that opening your heart by way of your home isn’t a suggestion and it doesn’t say if you have a big, nicely furnished place then you should be hospitable. No, there isn’t any prerequisite. All that’s needed is a willingness to take whatever God has supplied for you personally and lovingly share it with others as a blessing. Does this type of activity make you feel vulnerable? I get it, but Jesus is asking.
Hospitality may already be a regular practice of yours, but Peter’s command to use the spiritual gift that God has given you might prove more intimidating. Take heart, the Lord will never call you to a task that He has not first supplied the power for you to do it. What He has given to you is to be shared, used and employed for the benefit of the rest of us. The follower of Jesus gives and serves from His overflow. It has to be thus, because on our own we don’t have what it takes to do God’s work, God’s way. Feeling inadequate? I really get it, but Jesus is asking.
Believer, there is no need to put a sticker on your car to proclaim that He is your LORD. Surrender your fears and doubts, the “what-if’s” that tend to plague your thoughts, and be assured that the Holy Spirit will exchange them for the strength needed to do His will. Make a commitment to step out of your comfort zone and watch what happens next. I know you will be amazed.
– Pastor Jack
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