Make a difference – Day 1
Making a Difference as a Stranger
Um(Imi)bhalo weBhayibheli
1 kaPetru 1
Isibingelelo
NgokukaJohane 1
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia … 1 Peter 1:1
Do you know what it’s like to be a stranger? I do. I recently travelled to another country, which was a captivating experience, but I sometimes found the foreign ways perplexing and the lack of familiarity challenging – despite being able to speak the language!
If you have ever spent time away from your hometown or country, you will probably identify with this. You will appreciate how good it feels when someone smiles and gives you directions, or shows you hospitality and lightens your load in some way. You experience God caring for you through them and that makes a great difference to your sense of well-being.
Jesus Christ was a stranger to this earth. “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognise him” (John 1:10). He came to the world unselfishly, knowing that many would reject him, yet, he still came to make a difference. He knew that his home was in heaven and that his followers would be there with him one day. He wants us to make a difference and be the means of reaching out to others. If we truly follow him, we will also experience rejection, at times, and be treated like strangers – even if we never leave our hometown. If we take our example from him, we will make a difference.
When we meet strangers in different places at different times, we seldom think of how vulnerable they may feel. Peter does. He recognises that God’s people are not only scattered, exposed strangers in the world, but can sometimes even feel as though they don’t belong in familiar places, like the workplace or the home. As a disciple who did not always find it easy and as messenger to “God’s elect”, he wants to encourage them, to help them make a difference wherever they are, so he writes them a letter.
Peter is following Jesus’ example. Will you focus on his teaching and make a difference to this world where you are, no matter how small?
