Max Protection

1 Peter 1:3-5

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

Some early Native American tribes had a unique practice of training young braves. On the night of a boy’s thirteenth birthday, after learning hunting, scouting, and fishing skills, he was put to one final test. He was placed in a dense forest to spend the entire night alone. Until then, he had never been away from the security of the family and the tribe. But on this night, he was blindfolded and taken several miles away.

When he took off the blindfold, he was in the middle of a thick woods and he was terrified! Every time a twig snapped, he visualized a wild animal ready to pounce. After what seemed like an eternity, dawn broke and the first rays of sunlight entered the interior of the forest. Looking around, to his complete astonishment, he beheld the figure of a man standing just a few feet away, armed with a bow and arrow. It was his father. He had been there all night long.

How different the night would have been, had the boy only known his father was armed and watching intently!

As you meander through your life, do you feel like a blindfolded boy left in the dark?  As though daylight will never come?  That is never true.  The Bible verses for today describe two gifts God is protecting, one in the future and one right now.

• The future?  Jesus gives us a living hope into an incorruptible, unfade-able inheritance.  This inheritance is kept in heaven for you.  .  The Lord Jesus himself is guarding and preserving our inheritance of heaven.
• The present?  Jesus isn’t just preserving our inheritance in heaven…and then leaving you to handle all the earthly trials blindfolded.  You…through faith are shielded by God’s power.  This applies now.  Your heavenly Father is carefully watching over us, all the time, armed and ready to defend you.

God is guarding your heavenly inheritance so no one can steal it.  And he is shielding you completely until you arrive there safely.  Enjoy what he offers you…max protection, both today and eternally!
Prayer:  Lord, I know that I don’t have to guard my heavenly inheritance.  You are the perfect guard of my heavenly home.  And I know I don’t have to shield myself from earthly darkness and difficulty.  You are the perfect shield for anything that comes up in my earthly life.  Give me peace that passes understanding, the kind of peace that only comes through trusting in your Word.  Amen.