The Ticking Clock
Read 2 Peter 3:1-18 / The Holy Bible
9The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.
10But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.
11Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live,
12looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames.
13But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.
(2 Peter 3:9-13)
When visiting another country or culture, we may discover that the sense of time is quite different from our own. What does it mean to be on time? How long should something take? Another country, another timetable. It behooves us to adjust if we want to get along.
God’s sense of time is the focus of this reading. Here Peter explains that God’s timing is different from that of humans. Despite the differences, however, Peter encourages readers to have patience. God is in control and has not forgotten his people. As you read, consider how you can be both watchful and relaxed.
Note that hope is held up in abundance in this reading, as is the example of Jesus.
Some of the Christians to whom Peter wrote faced harassment and suffering for their faith. They knew that God planned an eventual judgment of the earth, when all would be put right. But they wondered, Why was he waiting? and Why not do it now? Peter told them: God has a different timetable than we do (2 Peter 3:8-9; see Psalm 90:4).
While we anxiously await God’s gavel of justice to fall, God patiently waits for more people to repent. He moves with perfect timing, not slowness.
Keep waiting with Jesus for more people to repent and turn to him. Each day he delays is another opportunity for us to have compassion as he does and to give a few more people an opportunity to accept him. Use the time God’s given you to spread the Good News.
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