The Holy Spirit leads us onwards on the journey of faith - 30 May 2025
Ewald Schmidt
We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:19-21, NIV
For us as believers, the Bible is a precious gift from God. The Bible has such a special place in our hearts, for it takes us back to who Jesus is for each of us. Today’s verses follow on those of yesterday, where Jesus was revealed as the Son of God to Peter, James and John on the Mount of Transfiguration. They would receive an even greater revelation of Jesus as the Son of God when he was resurrected from the grave and showed himself to them. Jesus lives and this inspired them to dedicate the rest of their lives to proclaim his message. They would follow Jesus for the rest of their lives on earth.
The message of the Gospel is that Jesus is the light of this world. John taught at the beginning of his Gospel: “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:4-5). Peter, also, in today’s verses, sees the light of Christ in the message the apostles want to share with the world. He exhorts us to pay attention to it, walking in the light till the dawn breaks, when Jesus returns. This is the image he uses: the rising of the morning star happens when the night is done. Jesus returns, a new world awaits. When Jesus returns, the darkness of this age will pass.
The message of Jesus is precious; it is the light giving us hope in the darkness of this world. Peter reminds us that Jesus has not left us behind alone to fend for ourselves. He would remember the words of Jesus in John 14:15-29 that Jesus would not leave us as orphans in this world. He would send us his Spirit to guide us and teach us in the truth. He would be our advocate until Christ returns.
Peter tells us that the Spirit of God works through the Bible in our lives. On the one hand, he was present during the writing of the Bible. He used ordinary people, living a normal life somewhere in the history of mankind, and he inspired them to write about the love of God and how to live in a relationship with God. The Spirit was present during the writing of God’s Word. And today we sit with an ancient text in our hands. It was written in languages most of us don’t understand and it comes from a culture that differs a lot from our own. But when we take up the Word of God, the Spirit guides us and teaches us to understand it, and it transforms our lives. An ancient text becomes more relevant than this morning’s newspaper when the Spirit of God teaches us the truth. The Spirit of God introduces us to Jesus, God’s living Word. We get to know him, love him and trust our lives into his care. The more we know of Jesus, the more our faith and trust grow. He transforms our lives to his image, fills us with his love and then uses us as disciples to shine his light in this world.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, Peter has become such an example to us of the way you can transform a life. From an ordinary fisherman, you called him to follow you and become a fisher of men. Thank you for his obedience and the role he played in the early church to build your kingdom. Thank you for his letter, inspired by the Spirit, to teach us to grow in faith. May each of the readers of this series get to know you better, Lord Jesus! May they know you as the Son of God and listen to you. May they experience your grace and peace in their daily lives! Amen.