Precious
What do you have that you think is “precious?” It might be an heir loom which has been in the family for a long time. Others would say that items which have great monetary value are things which are precious. When the apostle Peter wrote his first letter, he talked about several things that really are precious.
Our Proven Faith Is Precious
The people to whom the apostle Peter wrote were proving that their faith was for real because they were enduring trials (I Peter 1:6). He said of them, “In this you greatly rejoice….so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable…may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation (the return) of Jesus Christ” (I Peter 1:6-7). Even though they had gone through great distress due to their trials, they could rejoice because they had passed the test. They proved their faith was “precious.” Today when we endure trials because of our faith it proves that our faith is for real! When we pass that test we can say, “The proof of our faith is precious – more precious than gold.”
Christ’s Blood Is Precious
What would your family give to ransom you from danger? Families have been known to pay millions of dollars to redeem a loved one. Satan and sin held us captive. The ransom price for sin was not cheap. “Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited you’re your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ” (I Peter 1:18-19). God loved us so much that He gave His only begotten son to redeem us. The blood of Christ was not only precious to the Father and the Son. It should also be precious to us because it paid for our sins.
Christ, A Precious Stone
In biblical times when one got ready to build a house of stone, he selected the best stone available and laid it on the corner from which all other measurements were taken. It was called “the chief corner stone.”
Three times in a context of five verses, Christ is referred to as “a precious corner stone” in the spiritual house of God (I Peter 2:4, 6, 7). Christ is even more valuable because He is “precious in the sight of God” (I Peter 2:4). Peter goes on to say, “This precious value, then, is for you who believe” (I Peter 2:7). He became the “precious corner stone” of the church. Every person who accepts Christ’s blood by being baptized then becomes a “living stone” in the “spiritual house” – church (Romans 6:3-4; Ephesians 1:7; I Peter 2:4-5). Peter explained, “And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (I Peter 2:4-5).
A Wife’s Character Is Precious
Peter said that the true beauty of a wife is not her outward appearance made up of her garments and jewelry but rather exhorts her to, “Let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quite spirit, which is precious in the sight of God” (I Peter 3:4). Notice that this kind of woman is precious to God and if precious to God, she ought to be precious to us, especially to her husband. With this kind of beauty, she can win an unbelieving husband to the Lord (I Peter 3:1). Her “gentle and quiet spirit” is not only precious but powerful.
Conclusion
In our materialistic society, it is easy to get caught up into the mind-set that believes money or physical things are the most precious things one can possess. Not so. The spiritual, inner qualities are much more valuable. Let’s prove our faith; let’s apply Christ’s blood to our souls and let’s become stones in God’s spiritual house. These are the most precious “things” on earth!
Wayne Burger