Reflection of Missions: ...But to the will of God! (by Rev. Eraldo Gueiros)

"For the time left you in the flesh, ye shall live no longer according to the will of men, but to the will of God," 1 Pet. 4:2

By Rev. Eraldo Gueiros Secretary of Synod Missions SSC / IPB 

There are phrases that catch the attention of people and hardly go out of our heads. Last Saturday, during an evangelistic program with about 50 people, had the grace to reach 5 conversions. One of the people who had expressed his desire to change his life told me: "How did I live so long without knowing these truths". Interestingly the previous week, during a missions conference where we preached, some believers of the church, to the end of the service, told me: "How did we live so long without giving value to these truths". Were exactly those words that motivated me to write this reflection. 

The Apostle Peter when he writes this text 1Pe.4: 1, aims to awaken the church to revise its religious conduct, their priorities and the chores. As we see in vs.3, he understands that we have already lost so much of our lives without living in the presence of God, we can not waste more time! We are not saved to continue doing the will of men, or living with the values and priorities of those who do not know God. We've done that enough in the past. 

Peter says, "the time left to us in the flesh is very little"; he had in view the events that would follow in the near future (like the madness of Nero and the persecution of Rome). Over one way or another, our time is too short, because at any moment Jesus could come back for his church, or ourselves, we can go early to the Father together So we can not waste any more time! 

We are called to live the will of the Father! Will we live? Do we know fully what your Father's will for our lives? Returning the phrases I heard, those people thought they were living the will of God. The awe of them was realizing that while they were (for the believers) involved with church activities, were not in fact prioritizing what was the greater will of God for the lives of His people. No church activity may be more important than the commitment to seek to save lives! 

In vs.7, Peter reminds us that the end of all things is near. Was not as close as it is to us. Nor do we know how long it'll be until the arrival of the End, but I believe this is a feeling that is produced by the Holy Spirit, so that we may accommodate us. It has a lot of people accommodated in churches today because they think the time is still far from the end. One day we will all be surprised! 

Live this week as if it were the last! Do not delay what is urgent! Do not put your priorities in front of the priority of God. 

May God give you a great week of evangelization!