This Day in History: 0000-09-24

September 24 – 2 Peter 3:8-15

But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.
The 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.
But 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 judgement.
Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking 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 flames.
But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth He has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness. 
And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in His sight.
And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved…

Are we living every day of our life like it could be the last? Is there a sense of urgency we feel in knowing that this, or any day, could be the one on which we must stand before the judgement seat?  Or, have the thousands of years between the cross and today left us secretly believing that the end will never really come?  Let us not be deceived, my friends! The day of the Lord WILL come, as surely as you and I live.  Let us not confuse God’s patience for inaction.

The thing is, no matter what others may lead us to believe, we cannot know the day on which all this will happen.  The Bible tells us that it will come as unexpectedly as a thief in the night. We only know that it WILL come.

So let’s not waste our time trying to solve riddles God has told us can’t be deciphered.  Instead, let’s adopt the heart of our Lord, desiring to see everyone repent.  Let’s spend our time pursuing the lost souls that remain unreached for Christ.

Let’s also praise Him for His patience.  Without it, where would we be?  It is because of His restraint that you and I will spend eternity with Him forever, so let’s live up to our calling.  Let’s make every effort to live peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in His sight!  Let’s look forward to the world that is yet to come, a world filled with God’s righteousness, and praise Him every day for adopting us into His forever family!