WEDNESDAY 7th
2 Peter 1:11
‘. . . and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
I ended the previous devotion with this same verse and will consider it today and in the next devotion.
As I looked at this verse, I thought of various times when I have gone to different places to visit and of the varying degrees of welcome I have received. There have been times when the welcome has been so warm, the door flung open, ‘Come on in and make yourself at home’, that I have known without any doubt that I have received a rich welcome! I think of one home where I have visited many times in Hungary, and the welcome has been so rich that while I am there, I have felt like I am more like a family member than a friend. But in comparison, I can recall making a pastoral visit, going to a home, where there was absolutely no way I was going to be invited in, in fact the reception was far from rich and warm, it was the complete opposite, frosty and cold.
But Peter tells us that as we are more diligent to confirm our calling and election (v10) there will be a rich welcome awaiting us as we arrive at the doorway of heaven. In my mind I can see the Lord himself, standing at the doorway, his arms wide open, a great big smile on his face, ready to say, ‘Come on in’, and he doesn’t say ‘Make yourself at home’, he says, ‘This is your home!’
I like the NLT which says, ‘Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.’ We may never enter the grandest of places in this world, but one day we are going to have a grand entrance into the grandest palace, into the very presence of the King of kings!
Jesus said to his disciples, just prior to his going to Calvary, ‘Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?’ (John 14:1–2) In the well-known shepherd’s psalm, Psalm 23, in verse 6 we read ‘Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever’. Once we are in through the door of the place which Jesus is preparing, we will be there for good, for eternity! Let us all ensure that we are diligent in making our calling and election sure so that when we arrive there, we will receive the rich welcome. In fact, we have an idea from Scripture what the rich welcome will be, it is found in Matthew 25:23 ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’