I’m away for a few days this week planning future preaching series, preparing to write my Advent devotional, and swinging by a brother’s home to spend a day with him, along with two other brothers and a sister who live in the area. When you have thirteen siblings, there is someone nearby nearly everywhere you go.

Since my time is pressed this week, I would like to share with you one quick thought, which flows from this passage in 1 Peter 4. It goes like this: “The end of all things is near. Therefore, be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” Here is Peter’s solution to the question of what we should be doing in the last days. Our days are numbered, either by the natural life cycles we have inherited in this fallen world, or because the Lord is bringing all things to an end in the approaching advent of Christ (his second advent). With this in mind, Peter exhorts us to:

1. Be alert. By this he means be watchful. Keep your eyes open and look for ways to keep watch over your soul. He is simply parroting what he heard firsthand from Jesus in his Olivet Discourse: “What I say to you, I say to everyone: Keep Watch!” (Mark 13:37).
2. Be of sober mind. Here he seems to mean that we should not let outside influences distract our clear thinking. Our alertness includes our minds. By doing so, we are able to pray more clearly and confidently.
3. Love each other deeply. Here’s what Peter is stressing. How do we know? He introduces the exhortation with the words “Above all.” Here is what I want to stress this week. Brothers and sisters, let us learn to love one another. We share a common faith, we share a common communion, we share interlocking lives. Christ rules over all! He triumphs over politics, our culture, the latest fads, and all our frustrations. Let us love one another, and not just superficially, but deeply. Ask God to give you a heart of love. That is my prayer during my few days away this week.

Love covers over a multitude of sins. I have a few sins in my past and a few that creep into my current life as well, sadly. I’m thankful that the love that God has for me covers over sin, and at least in the context of Peter’s words, my love for others contributes to that as well. I’m happy to make that exchange.

The end is near, friends. Our redemption is closer now than when we first believed. The night is falling, the day is almost here (Rom. 13:11-12). Let’s redeem the time and make the most use of it. There is no better way to do that than to offer love and grace to one another, and then watch it spill back into our own lives.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Jym

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