THURSDAY 19th
We come over the next two devotions to look at the final verses in Peter’s second epistle, 2 Peter 3:14-17, for this devotion we will read verses 14-16
‘Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.’
In his closing remarks, Peter says to the readers of his letter, and to us who read it today, because you are waiting for these future promises to be fulfilled, be diligent to be found by him, that is the Lord Jesus Christ when he comes again,
without spot or blemish, and at peace.
Peter started this letter off by talking about ‘his (that is Jesus’) precious and very great promises’ (2 Peter 1:4) this would have inspired the recipients of the letter to have thought much about all the great promises that Jesus had made and what is entailed in them for every believer, and I trust that as we have gone through this epistle that we too have thought about these great promises which are or should be precious to each and every one of us, and at the same time they should have spurred us and encouraged us to make sure that we are living in expectancy for the second coming of Jesus, ensuring that we are not getting entangled in anything that would cause us to be caught off guard when Jesus comes again.
Peter talks of being found without spot and blemish, now, we know that we cannot and do not attain sinless perfection in this life, but what he is encouraging is that we seek to live as close to what it is humanly possible to be with the help of the Holy Spirit in Christlikeness, seeking at all times to not follow the desires of the flesh, but to live and walk according to the Spirit, we live by allowing the ongoing work of sanctification to take place in our lives.
He reminds them again as he did in the second chapter of this letter of those who would seek to distort the truth, let us make sure that we hold onto not only the precious and very great promises found within the word of God, but also onto the truthfulness of the word of God. Live in readiness, live according to the word of God, live just as if today might be the actual day when Jesus will come again. Live in such a way that when he does come, you will not be ashamed, but will be ready.