2 Peter 1 v 1 - 7

In one sense, the responsibility is ours. God has given us faith and everything we need for living a godly life, but the choice is for us to make: we are not automatons, God's vision is to have a vast number of people who freely choose to worship Him. Peter was one such person, as he calls himself a slave -doulos in Greek- of Jesus Christ. The difference between a slave and a servant is that the servant could expect some reward for work well done, even if it was a ''Well done, my good and faithful servant''; whereas the slave was just expected to do all his Master commanded him to do without any thought of reward or recompense, without any time of their own and without holidays or leisure and without opportunity to change his master. Peter saw himself as being owned by Jesus Christ in mind, body and soul! There are times when I recognise afresh the vast gulf in Christian discipleship between me and the ancients. Peter was made to witness his wife's martyrdom, and he encouraged her to focus herself on the Lord Jesus! I am so soft and cossetted as a believer as well as a human being. Why did Peter, who had spent three years with Jesus, consider himself Christ's slave? What made Jesus so unique to Peter? We get the answers in verses three and four: 1. He is the Christ of power. Nothing can ultimately defeat Him and so His love is always victorious. 2. He is the Christ of generosity. As we have read and discussed, He gives us everything necessary for true, abundant life. 3. He is the Christ of the precious and great promises. In Him all these promises come true. All of the Old Testament prophecies are fulfilled in Him, but also all the promises He has given us for our lives are fulfilled in Him! 4. He is the Christ by whom we are freed from the world. He helps us overcome our fascination with sin, opens our eyes to enable us to see just what it will do and already does to us and cleanses us by His presence. 5. He is the Christ who makes us sharers in the divine nature. One of the most amazing thing to me about God-and there are many-is that He commits Himself to us absolutely. He is not One who beckons us to take hold of Him and we will then see what He will pour out upon us, yes He does that, but already He has come to live amongst us and to die for us: nobody else has demonstrated their love for me as fully as God! You may be struggling with loneliness and frustration during this time: I urge you to remind yourself of the FACT of God's love for you, not just words but action, there objectively as written in history! Take hold of Jesus Christ!