God keeps His promises

Fear of change is at the foundation of most other fears. Those fears on the top ten lists involve any type of upset in the status quo, from attacks by terrorists to becoming seriously ill. The people surveyed want life to be better, but also stable, predictable.

When someone says “people never change” or “the world has always been like this” I feel a vague discomfort. God promises to change His people and I know this to be true. He also has a plan that will change the world; this is the hope of all who trust Him.

When it comes to predictable, God’s promises are totally that. Those that have not yet been fulfilled are the most certain of any predictions ever made, yet those who hear them cling to their ‘no changes’ chant. Christian believers are not surprised . . .

“This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.“They will say, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.’”

The passage goes on to remind them of the flood that destroyed scoffers and God’s promise of another day of judgment when the world and ungodly people will be destroyed by fire. Then He addresses the bit about nothing ever changing and adds a warning to His people about paying attention to His promises . . . 

“But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! “But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 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.” (2 Peter 3:1-18)

I particularly like the last part. It tells me that while others scoff that nothing ever changes, I’m not to be carried away by the same error in thinking. Instead, I am to be changing — and in the best way possible — changing by spiritual growth through a deepening knowledge of Jesus Christ. As the Bible says, the more I know Him and the deeper our relationship, the more I am transformed into His image.

^^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, my Lord and Savior, You do not tell us when You will come back to this sin-sick world, but I know You will come. You do tell us to live as if it could be any moment now. For me, that means great anticipation, yet it also pushes my thoughts to the many ways I am NOT like You and how I need to grow in grace and in the knowledge of You. This is my desire as I wait for that certain promise — whichever comes first — Your return or that day when I enter eternity.