Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=2Peter+003

Chapter 3 (ESV)

⁸ 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. ⁹ 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. ¹⁰ 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.

¹¹ Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, ¹² 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! ¹³ But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Reflection

1. Chapter at a Glance: Peter urged his readers to trust the prophets and apostles despite scoffers who ridicule the Lord’s second coming and deliberately ignore past divine judgment. God’s timing is different from ours, but this present world will surely be destroyed.  So, be godly and grow in grace.
2. Peter gave two insights into the lengthy delay between the promise of Jesus’ return and its fulfillment. First, God doesn’t view time as we do. What we might refer to as “a few thousand years”, He might think of just as “a couple of days”.  So we can’t impose our time sense on God. Second, God has good reason for the delay.  Christ hasn’t returned yet, because the Lord does not wish that “any should perish”.  As long as Jesus is absent, the door to salvation remains open.  But when Jesus comes, that door will slam shut. And then it will be too late.
3. Peter then wanted us to know that, when “the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved”, every material things we treasure will be all gone. So, Peter wanted us to act appropriately.  The Message puts vv11-12 this way: “Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.”

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

HYMN:

Lord I Give You My Heart – youtu.be/gW6PHQAQsD8