I decided to read 2 Peter this morning after Ashley told me that’s where he’d been reading. “It’s been awhile since I read 2 Peter,” he said. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d read the book in its entirety, in one sitting. I think about two things.
First, everyone should memorize verses 3 and 4, right? His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
How would we live differently today if we thought that we had everything we needed, that we could indeed participate in the divine nature instead of living according to the world and it’s deceiving, entrapping principles?
Secondly, I consider the sobering truth of The Day of the Lord. I remember telling my oldest daughter that it feels like the end of the world sometimes with war and flooding and famine and disease. She said, “Mom, that’s not how it ends. It’s fire. It all ends by fire.” I had forgotten 2 Peter. Yikes. Read this: You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
Sometimes it’s hard to believe. What if we did really and truly believe it? What if we remembered that our lives are about looking forward and not becoming so comfortable here in this place that’s not our home?