Impartial Father
17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.
1 Peter 1:17
We just finished a Living Grounded Episode on the Fear of the Lord. You can find that on Spotify. But I thought I’d continue the theme by reflecting on this verse in 1 Peter.
I’ve got three children and now two nieces who we spend a fair bit of time with. The nature of children is to call on their parents for well, just about everything.
A few verses before 17, Peter reminds us that we are God’s children. And as God’s children we are entitled to calling on our Heavenly Father for the things we need. But we are reminded here in verse 17 that this goes both ways.
We aren’t babies. Though we might be newborn or more mature Christians. We aren’t babies. And even as we are entitled to call on our heavenly Father for help. He also judges our work impartially.
He isn’t like all human parents (including me) who are skewed when they view their children's actions. Some of us are too generous to our children, we don’t see their flaws. Some of us are too harsh and overinflate their weaknesses and issues.
But God the Father is impartial. We can’t complain that he has judged us unfairly. He sees things perfectly. And actually. That’s scary. Because we can’t say he is wrong. We can’t blame his imperfections or biases. So what though?
Well, I think it’s implied that at some point, our work is going to be judged. It’s like when Jesus talks about the parable of the talents. There is an expectation that we would do something with what we’ve been given.
We get to call on God, the Father. He has given us life, Christ, salvation, faith, love, purpose, joy, gifts etc. etc. We’ve been given everything we need to serve him in various ways. And some of us have been given more and some less. But here is the question… What are you doing with what God gave you?
That’s a question we should ask in reverent fear. Knowing that we will have to answer God for what we did. But knowing he will be impartial. He won’t be harsher than he should be. He won’t be softer than he should be.
So, what are you doing with what God gave you?
Today:
Pray:
1 Peter 1:17
We just finished a Living Grounded Episode on the Fear of the Lord. You can find that on Spotify. But I thought I’d continue the theme by reflecting on this verse in 1 Peter.
I’ve got three children and now two nieces who we spend a fair bit of time with. The nature of children is to call on their parents for well, just about everything.
A few verses before 17, Peter reminds us that we are God’s children. And as God’s children we are entitled to calling on our Heavenly Father for the things we need. But we are reminded here in verse 17 that this goes both ways.
We aren’t babies. Though we might be newborn or more mature Christians. We aren’t babies. And even as we are entitled to call on our heavenly Father for help. He also judges our work impartially.
He isn’t like all human parents (including me) who are skewed when they view their children's actions. Some of us are too generous to our children, we don’t see their flaws. Some of us are too harsh and overinflate their weaknesses and issues.
But God the Father is impartial. We can’t complain that he has judged us unfairly. He sees things perfectly. And actually. That’s scary. Because we can’t say he is wrong. We can’t blame his imperfections or biases. So what though?
Well, I think it’s implied that at some point, our work is going to be judged. It’s like when Jesus talks about the parable of the talents. There is an expectation that we would do something with what we’ve been given.
We get to call on God, the Father. He has given us life, Christ, salvation, faith, love, purpose, joy, gifts etc. etc. We’ve been given everything we need to serve him in various ways. And some of us have been given more and some less. But here is the question… What are you doing with what God gave you?
That’s a question we should ask in reverent fear. Knowing that we will have to answer God for what we did. But knowing he will be impartial. He won’t be harsher than he should be. He won’t be softer than he should be.
So, what are you doing with what God gave you?
Today:
- Reflect on what God has given you.
- Consider your heart, do you care about what God thinks of your life?
- What is one thing you could commit to ongoing using the gifts God has given you?
Pray:
- Praise God that we can call on him as our Father.
- Give thanks for Jesus Christ who gifted us with salvation and everything we need to serve him.
- Ask God for his Holy Spirit to help you and others use your God-given gifts for good work.
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