The Picture of Patience {2 Peter 3:1-18}
12:30 AM
Tuesday,
December 18, 2018
Aren’t
you glad that Jesus didn’t come the day before you were saved? Aren’t you glad that there’s still time? Still time for all of those you sit there and
worry about or who you are angry at for leaving the faith? There’s still time!
Last
week I shared about what faith is and that same day the Lord pushed me to
read 2 Peter 3 and He had me stop at verse 9.
“No he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so he is
giving more time for everyone to repent.” I shared how this
transition into having adult children has been rather difficult for me. I used to think life was difficult back when
my children were very young, but honestly 20-something is much harder! It is especially difficult when you watch
your “children” make poor choices and you cannot step in to sweep up the
mess.
I
have found that my patience is very thin!
I pray. But I just can’t quite
trust… that God knows best. After all, I
am their mother!
I
hear quite often the phrase, “Life is short”, and I have to admit that at times
it causes me a lot of anxiety. It’s like
I have to hurry or I may miss something.
And we are taught that we don’t know what tomorrow will bring (James
4:14), and we must number our days (Psalm 90:12), but look at what 2 Samuel
14:14 says, that
God devises ways for life; a way to pull you towards Him.
And
then I rested on verse 14, “And so, dear
friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to
live a pure and blameless life. And be
at peace with God.” Hold
on a minute. Peace with God – I wrote in
the margin, ‘not with each other’. God’s
purpose for people is not destruction but re-creation (Isaiah 66:22 &
Revelation 21 & 22). God makes us
holy through faith in Christ. He counts
our sins as fully paid for by the blood and death of Jesus. He has given us credit for Jesus’ righteous
life. All believers have peace with God
in Christ, and He does view us – in Christ – as spotless and blameless. Eternal salvation is not something we work
for or earn.
As
a Christian, I work, in God’s power, to live up to those things that are true
of me in Christ. I should work to root
the sin out of my life and to fully engage in my peaceful relationship with
God. I cannot do this to earn my place
in God’s family. I do it because I
already have one.
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