II Peter 3:17-18 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.
What is this that we know before hand? Well, let's hear what else Peter tells us. In II Peter 3:8-10 he tells us, "But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up." The fact of the matter is that we are warned in God's Word that Jesus is coming back. Peter also tells us in this chapter that people will scoff at that truth simply because it hasn't happened yet. However, it is because of God's goodness and love that He has delayed His return. God knows the exact day and time that His Son will return, first to retrieve His bride, the church, and secondly to establish His one thousand year reign here on earth. Hear me out my friends, because God's delay comes with expectations for His people. We who claim to be followers of Jesus are supposed to be living God honoring lives, in light of what we know (or are supposed to know) about Jesus' return. There should also be an urgency that drives us to share the Gospel with family, friends, and the people God puts before us so that they are not left behind, and so that they don't end up in Hell and the Lake of Fire for all of eternity, separated from God. Jesus put it this way in John 4:34-38, "Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors." I ask this for all of us to think about and answer, "If Jesus came back today, how would He find us living? Would we even be able to say that we have shared the Gospel and led at least one person to Christ?" I pray that on the day He returns, if we are still alive, that we will be able to stand before Him unashamed, knowing that we were obedient and diligent right to the end.
Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Romans 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive His free gift of salvation today (Romans 10:13).
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