Pastor Bell's Words To Live By

God's system is superior to ours!

In the next section of his final chapter Peter quotes from Ezekiel 4:6 and reminds us that the Lord is outside our time so to speculate when he will return according to our understanding of timing is futile. He reminds us that one day with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as one day. For us to contemplate the Lord’s timing is like looking at a doughnut from a vertical perspective and only seeing the outline of the lines. It is not until we change our perspective to the horizontal plane that we notice that the doughnut is round. The whole essence of Peter’s exhortation is that God is a God who keeps his promises. And although it may seem to take a long time for the promises to come through, they will come to pass at the appropriate time. Whilst reminding us of this it seems to me that Peter is reflecting on the first advent of Jesus. They all knew he was promised but misunderstood the nature of his coming and the manner in which God operates. So when the infant was born in Jerusalem as promised, born of a virgin as promised and heralded by the stars in the constellation of the skies, the very people who knew that a Messiah was coming missed the event. Later on in his life the people who studied the scriptures on a daily basis castigated Jesus because he healed and delivered people on their holy days!

Peter reminds us that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night (v.10) when those who are not prepared will be destroyed whilst those who have been faithful, whether they are dead or alive, will be with the Lord.

These are sobering word for all of us who call ourselves Christians. Jesus is coming back and we should live as though his coming is tomorrow. So what does the Lord require of you? It is this: To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8b). 

Today read 2 Peter 3:8-19 and Micah 6:6-8.