How Should We Live as We Wait for Jesus?
2 Peter, Day 14
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.
- 2 Peter 3:11-14, ESV
So, now what? We know Jesus is coming again. We know He is patiently waiting for all His beloved chosen ones to enter His kingdom. We know that when He comes all passing pleasures and temporary things of this world will come to an end, and all things will be made new. So, how should we live until then?
To put it simply: We need to live as beloved chosen ones who do not belong to this fallen and doomed age but who do belong to the glorious age to come and to the King whose coming will usher in that age. We need to live as God's holy people, set apart by Him and for Him. We should seek to advance His kingdom and not our own, and we should be looking forward to His glory and not our own.
What does that mean? Well, we live in a world where everyone is taught to look out for Number One - and, of course, we're all taught to think of ourselves as Number One. We should look out for Number One. That just makes sense. The craziness in our world is the tendency to think of ourselves as Number One, when we're not. Only King Jesus is Number One.
In the world's way of functioning, you can only really desire three things: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:15-17) Those three basic items are the only things on the menu: satisfy your appetites (food, sex, rest, recreation, adrenaline rushes, etc.), acquire possessions and power, or achieve greatness in some way. You can pick one, two, or three of those things, but that's all. Even those who seem very committed to doing good and making the world a better place are most often motivated by pride.
But why would we want to live to satisfy appetites that are never satisfied and that will pass away? Why would we want to work hard to accumulate a bunch of stuff that's going to burn up? Why would we want to seek to make our name great when it's His name that is the name above all names?
One of my struggles on Thanksgiving Day is waiting for the main meal and not spoiling it by eating a bunch of junk all day. If we belong to Jesus, we have a feast coming which nothing in this world can touch. We have a new heavens and earth to enjoy forever which will put everything in this passing world to shame. Let's not ruin our appetite for the world to come by over-valuing and over-indulging in this temporary one.
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