Today’s reading is 2 Peter 2.
As we continue our walk through 2 Peter this week, we will do something a little out of the ordinary. We will begin by commenting on the end of the chapter today and then back up and work through the earlier parts of the chapter the rest of the week. We do this because we need to know where Peter is going and what is at stake in all he writes.
In last week’s look at 2 Peter 1, we considered the need for diligent cooperation with the work of God as we grow in maturity. At the end of 2 Peter 2, we learn why this work is important. Giving all diligence to add the Christian qualities to our faith, increasing in them, and making our call and election sure does not determine the difference between getting an A+ in Christian maturity versus an A-, but between succeeding and failing, between eternal life and eternal destruction. The fact is spiritual growth is always dynamic and never static. We are either progressing or regressing.
It is true, none of us can grow to maturity by our own effort and strength. Only by God’s grace can we gain maturity. However, refusing to put in the effort is tantamount to abandoning the grace God offers. Though we at one time escaped from the corruption in the world, we will fall back into the world. That does not mean we will simply miss out on some earthly blessings. Peter says if we are again entangled in the defilements of the world and overcome by the corruption, our latter state is worse than our first state. The first state was being lost, hopeless, without God. Peter says we would even be better off if we had never known the way of righteousness than having known it to turn back from it.
He then calls on Proverbs 26:11 to explain how foolish and how horrific such enslavement is. In such a state, we are like washed pigs going right back to the mudhole. Worse, we are like dogs returning to eat their own vomit. Whatever the dog ate made him sick the first time. Now it’s going to eat it again. How foolish! Yet, if we do not make every effort to grow and mature as Peter instructed in chapter 1, God will allow us to drift back into the corruption from which He freed us.
As we’ve learned before, whatever measure we use, God will measure back to us and give us more besides. But if we refuse to put in the reps, if you will, God will let even what strength He has given us atrophy.
With this in mind, I’ll ask you to take seriously what Peter has written both in what we read last week in 2 Peter 1 and what we will read this week in 2 Peter 2.
Trust God. He knows what He’s talking about. If you give up or procrastinate or apathetically live your life, don’t be surprised when you fall. However, if you apply diligence, even when your diligence doesn’t measure up to others’, He will grow you. He will multiply your efforts. He has given you all you need. Give Him all you have.
Tomorrow’s reading is 2 Peter 2.
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PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family
How does 2 Peter 2 prompt or improve your praise of God?
Read the Bible 