Simon Peter, a servant
and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God
and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: Grace and
peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
2 Peter 1:1-2
Can you think of a special gift you have received? My
husband travels a lot, so he frequently brings me jewelry from his travels. I
love looking at each piece remembering from where each originated. These
special pieces are important to me because my husband thought of me on the
other side of the world and brought them home just for me. The “special-ness”
of these gifts comes from the “special-ness” of the giver.
Peter references other believers as those who had received a
faith as precious as his. He considers faith a gift. I think it is easy for us
to understand that our salvation is a gift from the Lord. We know that there is
nothing we can do to deserve our salvation; it is completely free and
undeserved. What about faith?
In Ephesians 2:8-9 Paul tells us For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not
from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can
boast. The “it” in the last part of the verse refers back to the faith. The
faith is the gift of God. I think we have the tendency to feel that the faith
is ours, something we do. You cannot have faith if God had not given it to you.
Not only does Jesus begin the faith, He carries it on in us,
and He perfects it. Hebrews 12:1-2 reminds us, Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,
let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.
And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on
Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith . . .
Isn’t it amazing that Jesus is constantly working in and
through us! He is changing us more into the image of Him. Your part is to throw
off the things that hinder, sin, and allow Him to do His work by fixing your
eyes on Him. I am so thankful that He doesn’t leave all this up to just me. He
is truly the Giver of GOOD gifts!
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