Our scripture this morning is 2 Peter 3:10-18.
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”
We have heard of the end times from Paul, John and Jesus Himself. Now Peter writes of the last days with guidance to God’s people that they may “be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless” (v. 14). All of these instructions remind us that we won’t know the day or time, but we know that the Day of the Lord will come.
In this passage we are warned not to be led astray by the half-truths or outright lies of those who oppose the word of God. We are taught to be “looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells” (v. 13). Peter, who was impatient and had a short temper before he came to the Lord, encourages us to be patient and loving as God has been with us.
In all these things we are to trust in God and not our own strength or wisdom. Peter writes these words that we might better understand how to wait for the Lord’s return and what is expected of us until then. May we be found faithful when that great day arrives!
Loving Lord, we struggle to wait patiently in an angry and impatient world. Help us to share Your truth and grace with everyone, that all may come to know Your love. Amen.