Words of Grace

By Rev. Mahlon Nevel

The book of Acts gives to us the history of the church in the first century. The church went through a time of great persecution in those days.

Persecuted Christians in the church at Jerusalem were driven from the city. (Acts 8:1) Those who were “scattered abroad” went into other regions to preach the Word of God. (V.4)

The apostle Peter, in his first epistle, addressed these strangers who had to scatter because of their faith. (1:1) He wrote to encourage them as they suffered for the cause of Christ.

Peter reminded them that they had a living hope because of the resurrection of Christ from the dead. (V.3) He also reminded them that they had an inheritance reserved for them in heaven. (V.4)

It was good for all those persecuted Christians to know that if they died at the hands of their persecutors, they had a hope that went beyond their life on earth. They also had reservations to live in heaven for all eternity.

About 15 members of a social club decided to go bowling to celebrate a special occasion. Crystal, the leader of the group, called ahead to reserve some lanes.

She was told that it wouldn’t be necessary. If there were a lot of people there, they would just open another lane.
Crystal nevertheless insisted. The woman on the other end of the phone paused, and then said, “Uh, do you realize you’ve called a supermarket?”

We don’t need reservations to go to the supermarket, but we do need reservations to go to heaven.