Gollum/Smeagol is one of my favorite literary characters in Tolkien ’s Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Gollum talks to himself obsessively over the One Ring —even after he loses it in the deep caverns of the Misty Mountains. He constantly seeks his “precious” ring which Baggins finds.
While Peter writes some two -thousand years before Tolkien, he talks about the spiritual things that Christians ought to see as precious. In Peter ’s letters, he writes as we journey from here to eternity. Here are five things Peter emphasizes as exceedingly “precioussss” that a Christian should hold:
Your genuine faith is precious (1:5 -7). He compares the faith of these suffering Christians to gold that is tested by fire. He says that “your faith,” being tested by fire, is found to be FAR MORE precious than gold that perishes. How strange that in difficult times, a Christian may be tempted to hold more closely to his or her “gold” (read: money) than their precious faith.
The blood of Jesus is precious (1:18 – 19). The incorruptible blood of Jesus redeems us where corruptible silver and gold could never do so. The purpose for Peter mentioning this is to show that a high price was paid for our salvation, therefore, we never want to fall into an excuse to sin or excuse unholy behavior (see 1:13 -17). There is nothing more precious than the blood that makes us whole and saves our soul.
The Savior as our Cornerstone is precious (2:4-9). He is the one the Jews stumbled over instead of building their lives on Him. They rejected Him as the Chief Cornerstone of God’s house, however, to us, He is the precious One of utmost importance for us. What a precious Savior we have!
The fellowship we have is precious (2 Peter 1:1). We have a “like precious faith” in the community of Christians. As Peter writes 2 Peter, he shows that those of like precious faith need to be reminded of always listening to God’s word which will keep the fellowship secure in light of forgetfulness (Ch. 1), false teachers (Ch. 2) and flouters (Ch. 3). Hold onto your precious fellowship!
The promises we have are precious (2 Peter 1:4). The promises of God give us the ability to be partakers of the divine nature. These promises ought to compel us to greater growth and service in the Kingdom of God (2 Pet. 1:5 -7), lest we should become forgetful, unfruitful, and unproductive in the Christian life. Do the precious promises of God make a difference in your life? You don ’t have to obsess like Gollum to know the precious things our Lord has given us, however, we would all do well, like Gollum, to think on and speak of them more.
0 Comments