1 Peter 5:5-7 Likewise, you younger, submit yourselves to the elder. Yes, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility… I. THERE ARE THOSE WHO DECLARE THAT THE WORDS HAVE NO MEANING. They see no "He" in the universe. True, they speak of nature, not only with deep reverence, but in terms so warmly personal, that we are sometimes tempted to think that their science has found what their faith had lost; but, if we may trust their own assertions, it is not so, for they find no evidence in nature of a living God. Such men can have no resource outside of themselves in times of sorrow and anxiety. No man can cast his care upon an "it." The materialist's creed fosters an inhuman quite as much as an ungodly type of character. If ever the pressure of care becomes too heavy for him to bear it alone, one of two results will follow: either the creed will break down or the man will. II. Although atheism may be no temptation to us, WE MAY STILL FIND IT DIFFICULT TO REALISE THAT GOD REALLY CARES FOR US. 1. Easier to believe that He cares for the universe at large, or even for this world and the human race us a whole, than that He takes any interest in us, as individuals. Too prone to think of Him as exercising some kind of care over us as a general does over his troops. But He is not a general, but a Father, and has room in His infinite heart for each one of us. "He cares for me." 2. Some (me may say, "I cannot think God cares very much for me, or He would not allow me to suffer as I do, and give me this weary burden of care to bear day by day." Like a child complaining of having hard lessons to learn. But are we not assured that our very trials are the pledge of God's love? If we had no care, we might begin to doubt whether God cared for us. III. Then the practical lesson of the text is this, THAT IF WE LIFT THE BURDEN OF OUR CARE AT ALL, WE ARE TO LIFT IT FOR THE LAST TIME, THAT WE MAY CAST IT UPON GOD. Once there it becomes God's care, not ours. Because God cares for us, He will care for it. IV. THE LITTLE WORD "ALL" INCLUDES EVEN THE TRIVIAL AND PASSING ANXIETIES OF EACH DAY. (G. S. Barrett, B. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. |
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