Refreshments, anyone?
What do we think of when we think of refreshing ourselves? A splash of cold water from the faucet at the sink? A tall glass of ice cold water to quench our thirst? Perhaps a quick shower and a change into clean clothes? Sounds wonderful, doesn't it?
If we break the word down into its two parts, we have re + fresh. Now most of us know that "re" means "again." So obviously the word means "to make fresh again." And that splash of water, the cool drink, the shower and clothes can certainly make our physical bodies feel fresh again. We are revitalized and ready to resume our daily tasks.
The apostle Peter was familiar with being refreshed, though the kind he was talking about was not the refreshing of our physical bodies. If you have a King James Version handy, take a look at 2 Peter 1:13. He writes: "I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body." What he means is he finds it fitting to remind Christians of something.
Now let's see what we are being reminded of. Go back to the beginning of the chapter. (I'm switching over to the NKJV now for comprehension's sake.)
1. We have obtained a precious faith through the righteousness of God and Jesus Christ.
2. Through His divine power he has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness.
3. Because of this we can be partakers of the divine nature.
[Sounds good, right? Let's continue.]
4. We escaped the corruption that is in the world.
[Whoa! It all sounded so good and then, bam! I don't know if I like being reminded that I was once a sinner. (But I was. All who are now living godly once were sinners.) Well, let's read some more. Maybe it will get better.]
5. We must be diligent.
6. We must add to our faith virtue.
7. We must add to our virtue knowledge.
8. Then self-control.
9. Then perseverance.
10. Then godliness
11. And brotherly kindness.
12. And love.
[Oh, that sounds like an awful lot of work. That knowledge part sounds like a lot of studying and you know, I have my job and my family and then my friends and all of that takes a lot of time. And you know, Lord, I have to have time to myself. It's football season, basketball season, and all my shows on television are new because the T.V. season just started in September. And there's my hobbies, my house, my dog. I'll try to fit in reading a few verses every day, but I'm not sure about that studying part.
(But remember, way back in verse 3 we are told we are partakers of the divine nature through knowledge!)
Wait! There's more.]
13. If these things are ours...
[What things? Well, faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love, of course.
Oh, okay. I guess I can manage that daily Bible reading.
Oh, but we haven't read the rest of the verse yet.]
If these things are ours and abound...
[Did we catch that? We aren't supposed to have just a little faith, just a little virtue, just a little knowledge, just a little self-control, just a little perseverance, just a little godliness, just a little brotherly kindness, just a little love, these things are supposed to ABOUND. As in being bountiful, overflowing, plentiful.
Did it just get harder? Honestly, yes, it did. But let's keep going.]
Continuing #13 in the things we are being reminded of: If these things are ours and abound, we will not be unfruitful or barren in the knowledge of our Lord.
[If we're not unfruitful or barren in knowledge, then we are partakers of the divine nature.]
14. If we don't have these things, then we are shortsighted--and more than that, we are blind.
15. If we don't have these things, then we have forgotten that we were cleansed from our old sins.
[That corruption, that filth has come upon us again. Why did we bother with the cool drink, the splash of water, the shower (or bath) for our spiritual bodies? We are no longer revived; we are dead, covered again by filth.]
16. But if we do these things...
[What things? Well, add to our faith virtue, to our virtue knowledge, to our knowledge self-control, to our self-control perseverance, to our perseverance godliness, to our godliness brotherly kindness, to our brotherly kindness love.]
If we do these things, we will never stumble.
[Have we ever stumbled before? Got a scrape from it? A sprain? Jarred our brain a little? Not pleasant was it?]
17. If we do these things, an entrance will be provided--
[Read closely now because this is the good part.]
ABUNDANTLY, into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
[All that reading and studying is starting to sound worth it, isn't it?]
But wait. Now these Christians that Peter wrote must have been pretty weak, right? You know, he tells us. Look at verse 12. "For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth." They KNEW the truth. (We've been talking about knowledge, right?) They were ESTABLISHED in the truth. Tell me, would you set foot inside a building that you knew was not firmly established? I sure wouldn't. These Christians were established, and yet Peter say he's going to be ALWAYS reminding them. Not only that, but look at verse 15: "Moreover i will be careful to ensure that you ALWAYS have a reminder of these things after my decease. (And they do. We do.)
If these established and knowledgeable Christians ALWAYS needed reminding, then what about the rest of us?
Have we had our refreshment today?
If we break the word down into its two parts, we have re + fresh. Now most of us know that "re" means "again." So obviously the word means "to make fresh again." And that splash of water, the cool drink, the shower and clothes can certainly make our physical bodies feel fresh again. We are revitalized and ready to resume our daily tasks.
The apostle Peter was familiar with being refreshed, though the kind he was talking about was not the refreshing of our physical bodies. If you have a King James Version handy, take a look at 2 Peter 1:13. He writes: "I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body." What he means is he finds it fitting to remind Christians of something.
Now let's see what we are being reminded of. Go back to the beginning of the chapter. (I'm switching over to the NKJV now for comprehension's sake.)
1. We have obtained a precious faith through the righteousness of God and Jesus Christ.
2. Through His divine power he has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness.
3. Because of this we can be partakers of the divine nature.
[Sounds good, right? Let's continue.]
4. We escaped the corruption that is in the world.
[Whoa! It all sounded so good and then, bam! I don't know if I like being reminded that I was once a sinner. (But I was. All who are now living godly once were sinners.) Well, let's read some more. Maybe it will get better.]
5. We must be diligent.
6. We must add to our faith virtue.
7. We must add to our virtue knowledge.
8. Then self-control.
9. Then perseverance.
10. Then godliness
11. And brotherly kindness.
12. And love.
[Oh, that sounds like an awful lot of work. That knowledge part sounds like a lot of studying and you know, I have my job and my family and then my friends and all of that takes a lot of time. And you know, Lord, I have to have time to myself. It's football season, basketball season, and all my shows on television are new because the T.V. season just started in September. And there's my hobbies, my house, my dog. I'll try to fit in reading a few verses every day, but I'm not sure about that studying part.
(But remember, way back in verse 3 we are told we are partakers of the divine nature through knowledge!)
Wait! There's more.]
13. If these things are ours...
[What things? Well, faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love, of course.
Oh, okay. I guess I can manage that daily Bible reading.
Oh, but we haven't read the rest of the verse yet.]
If these things are ours and abound...
[Did we catch that? We aren't supposed to have just a little faith, just a little virtue, just a little knowledge, just a little self-control, just a little perseverance, just a little godliness, just a little brotherly kindness, just a little love, these things are supposed to ABOUND. As in being bountiful, overflowing, plentiful.
Did it just get harder? Honestly, yes, it did. But let's keep going.]
Continuing #13 in the things we are being reminded of: If these things are ours and abound, we will not be unfruitful or barren in the knowledge of our Lord.
[If we're not unfruitful or barren in knowledge, then we are partakers of the divine nature.]
14. If we don't have these things, then we are shortsighted--and more than that, we are blind.
15. If we don't have these things, then we have forgotten that we were cleansed from our old sins.
[That corruption, that filth has come upon us again. Why did we bother with the cool drink, the splash of water, the shower (or bath) for our spiritual bodies? We are no longer revived; we are dead, covered again by filth.]
16. But if we do these things...
[What things? Well, add to our faith virtue, to our virtue knowledge, to our knowledge self-control, to our self-control perseverance, to our perseverance godliness, to our godliness brotherly kindness, to our brotherly kindness love.]
If we do these things, we will never stumble.
[Have we ever stumbled before? Got a scrape from it? A sprain? Jarred our brain a little? Not pleasant was it?]
17. If we do these things, an entrance will be provided--
[Read closely now because this is the good part.]
ABUNDANTLY, into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
[All that reading and studying is starting to sound worth it, isn't it?]
But wait. Now these Christians that Peter wrote must have been pretty weak, right? You know, he tells us. Look at verse 12. "For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth." They KNEW the truth. (We've been talking about knowledge, right?) They were ESTABLISHED in the truth. Tell me, would you set foot inside a building that you knew was not firmly established? I sure wouldn't. These Christians were established, and yet Peter say he's going to be ALWAYS reminding them. Not only that, but look at verse 15: "Moreover i will be careful to ensure that you ALWAYS have a reminder of these things after my decease. (And they do. We do.)
If these established and knowledgeable Christians ALWAYS needed reminding, then what about the rest of us?
Have we had our refreshment today?
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I think I just had another refreshment right here. =) Thank you very much for sharing this. -
Nice "sermon." :-) Growing in virtues is SO exciting! I recently had a realization of how experiencing a trial resulted in growth. Thoughts like these help us to rejoice amidst difficulties. -
I'm sorry -- I haven't read your blog yet! But in answer to your questions -- I did vote, on Saturday. And I have nothing against children's books! They're often a little bit more innocent than some of the older ones. I've actually thought about reading Lord of the Rings next. Which are children's books, right? I've thought about reading some John Grisham too, though. Or maybe some classics that I never finished in some of my classes. I've thought about going throught he Newberry Award-winning books. I figured with children around the corner (very figuratively speaking) it would be a good start to developing their curriculum. :-) -
You have indeed refreshed me. Nice, that. -
Hi there. Since my dad only has dial-up service, I'm not taking time to read your good study, but did want to answer your question - yes, we are able to access our same email address while we are in the States. See you there!
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Ok -- sent you one back.
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Happy Thanksgiving!
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Though not without struggles, it was a good holiday; my family really missed this brother, who because he had to work Black Friday, went to Atlanta with his fiancee's family rather than come all the way up to Ohio. So my family a little bit of the experience, for the first time, of having one of us away...I can hardly imagine what it would be like to have several children gone. I am glad it was a good Thanksgiving nonetheless for you. I would love to come visit again sometime. :-)
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wow! I love that chapter! We have been studying 1 Peter in Bible class and it is really encouraging. This post has inspired me to go back and study that chapter in 2 Peter. -
1 Peter has become a favorite book for me and very useful to teach from. Please, email me again, but use grannysa48@aol.com
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You're very welcome. :-)
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It seems like the ever-condemned Nativity scene might at least merit some attention. Afterall, that's how it was celebrated (albeit, not at the time of his birth). Other things we might look at are worshiping him, or giving gifts, or perhaps barnyard festivities. ;-) Obviously, somewhat tounge in cheek, but I still can't get away from the John 9 account of Jesus celebrating an extra-biblical, socio-religious event and not seeing that as (at the very least counter) to "no explicit examples." -
Happy New Year! -
Thank you for my present!
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Yes. We are members at La Vista. Our Dad even does the website! =)
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Ah, well that's interesting. I might tell Dad, since he runs it. He likes to hear interesting things like that. =)
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The book is Historians' Fallacies: Toward a Logic of Historical Thought, by DHF; it's HILARIOUS as well as thoroughly insightful. I totally recommend it. :-)
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I think it was some Sculpey clay, that you can bake in the oven. And we used acrylic paints, then used a spray-on glaze. =)
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Thanks for the book again! I'm on page 461 right now and I really love it! This'll probably be one of my new yearly books...books I love so much I read almost every year. -
Donna, so, we were schooling in the van. Nice that. But especially to learn you had a great follow-up at home with your girls. THERE is where the good happened.
emmaroo
~*Oh, yeah, THAT one. Who cuts her hair and married a madman...
~*My little smart one
~*My little drama queen
~*My darling daughter
~*My crazy son-in-law