THE “TIME LORD”
Opening Prayer
I praise You, O Lord, that one day I will see You face to face.
Read 2 Peter 3:8–18
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.[a]
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.[b] That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
Footnotes
a 2 Peter 3:10 Some manuscripts be burned up
b 2 Peter 3:12 Or as you wait eagerly for the day of God to come
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What pictures come to your mind as you contemplate “The day of the Lord”?This faith of ours involves living with many mysteries. This must be so: otherwise, God would not be God. Our first mind-boggling truth for today is that our Lord constantly oversees the workings of the known universe—and beyond. The second is that he is intimately concerned with the progress of his children’s lives. We humans can never explain how all of this works together. However, one clue must be that God dwells outside time, as Peter implies (8). Indeed, we might well understand space-time as a part of divine creation just as much as trees and animals and you and me.
Peter seems to find it natural to jump back and forth between apocalyptic prophecy and plain instructions for Christians. Are we expected to fully comprehend ideas such as “The heavens will disappear with a roar” (10)? Perhaps not—because right now we do not need to. It’s exciting to read the dramatic accounts about the end times in Scripture. They should surely draw us to worship, even if what it’s all about is not yet clear. Meanwhile, the Bible provides ample and obvious guidance about our own right response today. Verse 14 alone lays out a pretty good basis for a life in Christ. Let’s not kid ourselves that we need to know more than this.
Apply
Spend some time meditating on the meaning, for you, of “spotless, blameless and at peace with him” (14). What does that look like in your life? Do you need to make some adjustments?
Closing prayer
God, I want to be spotless, blameless, and at peace with You. Thank You for what You have done for me through Christ Jesus.
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