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Today's Scripture

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, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 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. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
— 1 Peter 1:3-9 (NIV)

 

Reflect on the Word

Following Jesus does not mean hard things go away. In fact, the Bible makes it clear that believers will go through hard times. When gold is first collected, it’s not shiny and pretty—it’s all mixed up with dirt and other materials. To make it pure gold, a refiner has to put it into a really hot fire. The heat makes the gold melt, and all the dirt floats to the top. All that top stuff is scooped away, so only the pure gold is left.

Peter writes that our faith is like gold. Sometimes we go through the hot fire—hard things that don’t always make sense. The promise? Our living hope in Jesus. He has the power to use the fire moments to strengthen our faith with the promise to be with us always. Even though we haven’t seen Jesus with our eyes, we can still love Him, trust Him and experience a joy so deep that words can’t fully explain it.

 

Family Fun Moment

Science experiment

Suggested Materials: 

  • a dirty penny (or two)
  • a small bowl of vinegar
  • a spoonful of salt
  • paper towels

Take a moment to look at the dirty penny. Next, invite an adult to help mix the vinegar and salt in the bowl. Drop the coin in and swirl it around for 20-30 seconds. Take it out, rinse with water and dry it off—it should be much shinier!

Discuss what happened and how it worked. Similar to how fire is used to purify gold, the vinegar and salt helped remove the dirt to clean the penny. We all face challenges, moments that might feel like we’re being swirled around and scrubbed with salt. And yet, God is with us. He can use these moments to draw us closer to Him as we learn to trust Him more.

 

Let's Pray!

Reflect on a “hot fire” moment—a hard or scary situation that happened. How did you see God at work? Share about the hard things you’re currently facing, or that others are facing, and pray together. Thank God for His presence as you ask for His help.

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