Word@Work 1Pet55 - 1 Peter 4:9
Published: Fri, 07/10/09
Word@Work from BeaconLight
THE MARK OF HOSPITALITY
1 Peter 4:9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. (NIV)
This email devotional will be received in 169 countries today. Each nation has its distinctive culture, and some have multiple sub-cultures. For many, but by no means all, hospitality is an important component of social life as it was in Bible times. So why does Peter urge his readers to welcome others into their homes, to provide generously for them and to go out of their way to make them welcome. A clue to the answer is in two words, 'offer' and 'grumbling'.
Where people are expected to open their homes to family, friends of family, customers and passing travellers - the motivation is social duty and obligation. There is no choice in the matter, or opportunity to refuse. However the opportunity to resent the intrusion may be reinforced with every knock on the door (or Skype call!). But Peter says that we should be proactive to offer a welcome, not only to family but to strangers also (cf Heb 13:2). Because it is a part of our Saviour's heart to welcome the stranger and to seek out the lost.
Grumbling is the slow burning fuse of resentment which is difficult to extinguish. It comes from a self-centred mind-set and produces a sourness of heart and an inability to share the gospel. It was the fatal characteristic of the Israelites in the wilderness (cf 1 Cor 10:1-10). Their grumbling made them unable to receive the Lord's wise guidance (because they thought they knew best), and disqualified them from their inheritance. And James 5:9 says that grumbling against other believers is a serious spiritual offence. But, freely offered hospitality is the mark of the Christian who is working with God, to bless the believers and to welcome in the strangers ... all because He has already done that for us.
Prayer: Dear Lord God. Thank you for reaching out to find me and for welcoming me into Your kingdom when I did not deserve any of Your kindness. Help me to show my gratitude to You by welcoming those who You send, and reaching out to those who are lost. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
You can read the verses around this Bible passage from the Internet Bible: - in English, and many other languages
This email devotional will be received in 169 countries today. Each nation has its distinctive culture, and some have multiple sub-cultures. For many, but by no means all, hospitality is an important component of social life as it was in Bible times. So why does Peter urge his readers to welcome others into their homes, to provide generously for them and to go out of their way to make them welcome. A clue to the answer is in two words, 'offer' and 'grumbling'.
Where people are expected to open their homes to family, friends of family, customers and passing travellers - the motivation is social duty and obligation. There is no choice in the matter, or opportunity to refuse. However the opportunity to resent the intrusion may be reinforced with every knock on the door (or Skype call!). But Peter says that we should be proactive to offer a welcome, not only to family but to strangers also (cf Heb 13:2). Because it is a part of our Saviour's heart to welcome the stranger and to seek out the lost.
Grumbling is the slow burning fuse of resentment which is difficult to extinguish. It comes from a self-centred mind-set and produces a sourness of heart and an inability to share the gospel. It was the fatal characteristic of the Israelites in the wilderness (cf 1 Cor 10:1-10). Their grumbling made them unable to receive the Lord's wise guidance (because they thought they knew best), and disqualified them from their inheritance. And James 5:9 says that grumbling against other believers is a serious spiritual offence. But, freely offered hospitality is the mark of the Christian who is working with God, to bless the believers and to welcome in the strangers ... all because He has already done that for us.
Prayer: Dear Lord God. Thank you for reaching out to find me and for welcoming me into Your kingdom when I did not deserve any of Your kindness. Help me to show my gratitude to You by welcoming those who You send, and reaching out to those who are lost. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
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