1 Peter 1:17-21
Impartial judgment; it does not get any better than that,
but it is not something we find in our culture. Most of us have favored one person more than another, if you
do not believe that, examine yourself.
You’re in Sears and a mother has two small children walking by her side
and they are not only well dressed, they are clean and very polite. What are your thoughts, if you are like
me you stop and remark to the mother what great kids she has and that she is
doing a great job. Two isles over,
you see another mother with two children, one has spiked hair, it’s orange and
green, and he is pulling clothes on the floor and the mother is saying not one
thing, the other child has a Mohawk haircut dressed in black, and runs into you
and says, “Watch where you’re going you old fart.” How are you doing with the impartial judgment?
If only I could be blind to the performance of people I
encounter, to the mistakes that have put a mark on them, to the poverty that
has control over them, or the wealth that has made them into rude and
irresponsible people, if only I could see deep inside of them, if I could see
the intent of their hearts; then and only then, I would be able to be
objective. I once met a high
school counselor who had lost his sight, and this was his remark; “Before I
lost my sight, every kid that entered my office was judged by how they looked,
I now have to listen to them, and since I have lost my sight I am a much better
counselor.” I will never forget that
man, what he said resonated deep within my soul, if only I could be blind to
what my eyes are seeing and just listen to the cry of their heart.
That is what Peter is proclaiming in these verses: “And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially
according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time
of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited
from your fore-fathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but
with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”
How often do you or I conduct our self with fear about what
we think or say about someone else?
I’m not impartial, and I’m almost sure you are not either. We all have a set of rules that we live by and if you do not
follow our rules we often put you in a box; the boxes are many, liberal,
conservative, dumb, smart, skilled, unskilled, educated, uneducated, so many
boxes and with no fear of a God who judges the thoughts and intents of our
heart. I need to stop doing this,
it has been a pattern, a stronghold that the enemy has on me, and I want to
stop being a judge. If only I
would understand these truths; my flesh, the fallen world, and the enemy of my
soul takes great joy in being the judge, but I need to turn to Jesus who is my
life; Jesus who has no boxes to put you in, whose judgment is impartial.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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