Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
Let's break this verse out in a couple different pieces.
First, it starts off with "instead." Typically when you have "instead" or something like that, you want to look to see what did they say before that. This is written by Peter. What was Peter saying before he said "instead"? This passage in this context starting verse 13, says:
Now who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don't worry or be afraid of their threats. Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be put to shame when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.
What a powerful passage. Let's break it down into two pieces of our Verse of the Day.
Worship Christ as Lord
The first is worship Christ as Lord of your life. Typically, when we think about this type of wording as a Christian, we think, we're in church worshiping the Lord, it's worship music, and everything's going great because we're around fellow Christians and we're just worshiping the Lord with music. Look at it in its context, though.
This is written by Peter, and we estimate the time that he wrote it to be around 62 or 63 A.D. Do you know who the Roman Emperor was at the time of 62 or 63 A.D.? It was Nero. Nero was known, just like other Roman emperors, to look at himself as a deity, as a god, to be worshiped. Not only that, he ended up putting Christians on stakes and lighting them on fire to light his garden. What a horrific ruler at the time.
When Peter is talking about worship Christ as Lord of your life, he's talking about something that not only is worshiping the Lord in church when you're around Christians and everyone's celebrating—this is now declaring, if you're worshiping the Lord instead of Nero the Emperor and now looking at Jesus as Lord, not just a religious leader or a Savior, but Lord of your life, that is a game changer in their lives. That all of a sudden now puts their potential lives on the line.
That's why the context of this passage is so important, because he goes on to talk about, if you're living a life of goodness, of godliness, what can they say bad about you?
Always Be Ready to Explain
That's why, as it goes on in the second part of this verse, "and if someone asks you about the hope you have as a believer, always be ready to explain it." Some of you may say, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Okay, I'm not a pastor. I don't know how to explain it. I don't know theology or doctrine. I don't have a Christian college education or something like that."
The beauty of our relationship with Jesus is it reminds me of the woman at the well. She didn't have a college degree. She didn't have a theological background. She didn't have a title of a pastor. Far from it. Do you know what she had? She had her own authentic experience and encounter with Jesus. That's all she knew how to explain. "All I know is I had an authentic, real encounter with this person named Jesus. He knew everything about me and changed my life." What a great explanation of the hope we have through Jesus.
I would encourage you—are you willing to worship Christ and be a representation of who He is, and living a life of worship to Him, and in doing so, allowing the world to see through your actions, through your behaviors, the hope that you have in our Savior, our Lord Jesus?
