Scatterlings are made for this. A sermon on 1 Peter 4:7-11 by Rev. Colin Pretorius.

I know some of you like camping and doing all sorts of outdoorsy things, so you may appreciate the brief story I’d like to share with you.[1] Some years ago a young family went on a camping trip to a forest camp site, situated right next to a mountain. After a few days of roaming around, the mom and dad wanted to get a bit of rest, so their young daughter was given the run of the camp and the closer part of forest. For hours she fossicked around, enjoying herself, exploring and looking for all sorts of bugs and ants and all sorts of small creatures. Eventually she returned and proudly showed her parents her treasure trove of collected creatures, exclaiming “Mom, Dad, I was made for this!” She’d found her calling and she just loved it. She loved it so much she became a zoologist and she would later say she enjoyed her work so much she felt like she’d never worked a day. She was indeed made for it.

And friends, this is what happens in our lives as Christians too, when we do what God’s Word instructs us to do, for we were made to glorify God. This is what we’re called to do – to live in a way that honours the God who gave us life. This is what we were made for! And this is what Peter is telling us in this passage too. How we live has to bring honour to God (v11) – that’s the purpose of our lives. Peter begins by reminding his readers that they are living in the end times (v7). Then he gives them a series of commands as to what living in the end times looks like (verses 7b-11). And finally, in the last part of verse 11, he gives them the purpose of living, namely that God is to be glorified in everything (v 11b).

• Reminder of the end-time;
• Commands for living in the end-time; and
• Purpose for living.

[1] Based on a story by Daniel M. Doriani in 1 Peter (ed. Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Daniel M. Doriani; Reformed Expository Commentary; Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2014), 169.