Monday, November 29, 2021
This
is my second letter to you, dear friends, and in both of them I have tried to
stimulate your wholesome thinking and refresh your memory. I
want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and
Savior commanded through your apostles. Most importantly, I want to remind you
that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their
own desires. They will say, “What happened to the promise
that Jesus is coming again? From before
the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world
was first created.” They
deliberately forget that God made the heavens long ago by the word of his
command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with
water. Then he used the water to destroy the ancient
world with a mighty flood. And by the same word, the
present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment,
when ungodly people will be destroyed. But you must not forget this one thing,
dear friends: A day is like a thousand
years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The
Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but
wants everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will
come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the
heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves
will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to
deserve judgment. Since
everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly
lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and
hurrying it along. On that day, he will
set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. But
we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a
world filled with God’s righteousness. And so, dear friends, while you are
waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living
peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight. 2 Peter 3:1-14
Peter, ever the blunt, no-nonsense communicator, stated his case right
out of the opening gate…he wanted to stimulate wholesome thinking, and remind
his flock of what’s coming (judgment), how mocking fools act towards the holy,
and how people who would be godly must act.
Peter leaves little wiggle room for waffling.
Then he used that phrase that has stuck in a lot of minds: a day is like a thousand years, and a
thousand years like a day…with the LORD. It’s clear the flock were constantly bleating
about how long their suffering seemed, and questioning the Apostle why it was
so. And why it should be. And why God was silent on the issue.
And the answer, both in heaven, and to
earth, is the same – PATIENCE! We on earth, whether suffering, or weary, or
just plain eager for the coming of the LORD to clean up the mess…should be
patient. On the other hand, God IS
patient; He’s long-suffering the sins of the earth, giving all who would be
lost time to repent and be saved. So,
it’s not a flaw in God’s compassion – rather the fact that
He is patiently withholding judgment is a demonstration of His compassionate
grace.
So Peter, virtually exploding with grace and the compassion of Jesus
Christ, booms-forth the message…live godly lives…the judgment is coming,
and you don’t want to be on the wrong side of history when that
hits! Accept Christ now and be
saved. There’s a life full of
righteousness and joy awaiting; don’t miss it!
For You Today
If you’re human, there’s a tendency to whine to God
about how tough things are here. It’s
advisable to bring your troubles to God…but remember Who is the judge, and who
needs mercy.
He’s not silent for no reason…our need of repentance
is the reason.
[1] Title and Other Images: Pixabay.com Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
For another post on this text see A Prayer From the Hourglass
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