DAILY DEVOTIONAL – April 24, 2020
“Now.“
Prayer: Almighty God, it is too often that we take this life for granted. In our sinfulness, we forget how short this life is and how small it is in the scope of eternity. Father, in Your mercy, forgive us for our apathy and misplaced priorities. Help us by Your Spirit to make the most of this life by living every moment in the reality of Your presence with us, and with the anticipation of standing before Your glory when You bring this world to an end and reveal the fullness of Your Kingdom before our eyes. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Scripture: 2 Peter 3:8-13
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.
Devotional – “Now”
Back in 2013, ABC News ran the story of an unexpected tragedy in a Seffner, Fl neighborhood that left a young man dead and his family devastated. As ABC reported:
Jeff Bush, age 36 disappeared into a 30-foot-wide, 20-foot-deep sinkhole that collapsed the bedroom portion of his home overnight, according to police. The county Fire Chief, Ron Rogers said, “The family heard a sound that they described as a car crash emanating from the bedroom in the back of the house.”
The family rushed into the room where 36 year-old Jeff Bush was sleeping. “All they could see was part of a mattress sticking out of the hole. Essentially, the floor of the room had opened up,” Chief Rogers said.
After the initial collapse, Jeff Bush’s brother Jeremy jumped into the sinkhole and tried to rescue him, only to need rescuing himself. Jeremy said, “I jumped in the hole and was trying to dig him out, but I couldn’t find him. I didn’t see any part of him when I went in there. All I saw was his bed, and I told my father-in-law to grab a shovel so I could start digging, and I just started digging and started digging, and the cops showed up and pulled me out of the hole and said the floor was still falling in.”
When Jeff Bush went to bed that night, neither him nor his family would have ever imagined that the earth upon which their house sat would be pulled out from underneath them like a rug. Of course, had Jeff or his family known or even had a slight indication that this freak accident was a possibility, I would think that they surely would have taken some precautions, made an effort to fix the ground or just left the premises altogether. Unfortunately, no such warning was given to Jeff.
In our passage from 2 Peter today, we are told something that should cause a significant reaction within us. Peter says that the last and final Day of God’s judgement will come like a thief in the night. This is not the first time God is giving us a huge warning about how the last day will come. Matthew 24, 1 Thessalonians 5, Revelation 3 and this passage in 2 Peter all repeat this warning. Jesus says very directly in Matthew 24, “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Here in Nebraska there are regular tornado drills. Every school and public building in our nation has emergency evacuation plans. When I lived in California, there were regular warnings about what to do and how to prepare for an earthquake. I am sure you have all heard the alarming interruption over the car radio of a test of the emergency broadcast system. All of these are designed to get your attention, heighten your alertness and make an immediate and effective change to your behavior so that you are not surprised and overwhelmed by a life threatening emergency or natural disaster.
I am always left both heartbroken and bewildered when I hear stories of people that have lost their lives because they did not heed the warnings or because they did not evacuate when they were told to. Often times when the news asks these people why they are not taking immediate action and precautions, they say something like, “We have lived here for 10 years, we have seen this before. We’re still here and this time isn’t going to be any different.”
As reckless and unreasonable as that may seem to us, when it comes to the God’s warnings of the imminent end of this world, we are no less stubborn and foolish if we do not hear God’s words and take immediate action, make immediate changes in our life and trust that the God of the universe does not “cry wolf.” You and I just heard God tell us through His Son Jesus and multiple times throughout His Word that at any moment…any moment…this world and life as we know it will fall out from underneath us.
Jesus said there is no way to anticipate it. There is no secret Biblical math equation or algorithm that will predict when that Day will come. The warnings have been given. You have heard them. The time to prepare our hearts and minds to meet our Maker and stand before the Almighty is now. Not tomorrow, not after work, or after the kids soccer game or after you watch just one more episode on Netfilx. Now, my friends. The Bible says in 1 John 2:18, “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.” Did you hear that? 2,000 years ago the apostle John said “it IS the last hour.” There is no prophecy waiting to be fulfilled, there are no world geo-political events that have to happen or news headlines we have to read before the Day of the Lord comes. We are and have been in the end times. The single and last promise waiting to be fulfilled in Scripture is the coming of the Last Day of Judgement and Salvation.
Those who fail to heed God’s warnings and are caught unprepared will be swallowed up in the Judgement of the Almighty. However this is not what God desires. As it says in verse 9 from our passage today, “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.” The only thing holding the Last Day of the Lord at bay, is God’s enduring patience and love and His desire that all men should come to repentance, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and make immediate preparations in this life to stand before the Almighty.
How is it that we prepare for that Day? What is the evacuation plan we need to execute now, today, in order to know for certain that the Last Day will be one of salvation instead of eternal Judgement? Peter tells us in verses 11 and 12, “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.”
What does it mean to wait and hasten the Day of the Lord? That word “hasten” is the same word used to describe the response of the shepherds in the field when the angels announced to them that the Messiah had come. The shepherds left their flocks, they dropped everything and ran, not because they no longer cared for the sheep but because nothing could possibly be more important than seeing and meeting the Son of God.
As we wait, day in and day out, for the coming of the Lord, we should not wait like we wait in line at the DMV; mindlessly moving forward one small step at a time. Neither should we wait for the Lord like Martha did in Luke 10. When she heard Jesus was coming she frantically busied herself with anything and everything that had little to do with the Lord. When Jesus finally showed up, Martha didn’t even notice Jesus she was so busy. Meanwhile, Mary sat at Jesus’ feet…hanging on every Word that came from His mouth. In Mary’s mind, everything else could wait. Nothing was more important than Jesus. In response to this, Jesus told Martha, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
Friends, the Good News of the Gospel is that we do not have to wait for the Last Day to see or know or have a relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus who is coming very, very soon. He has given us His Word, in our hands, with which like Mary we can hang on His every word. He has promised to be and is with us and working every moment to redeem all of our life so that we may find balance in life, and find His true joy and purpose in our homes, in our occupations and in our churches. He has given us the fellowship of believers in the church and the ministry of the church, and it is in the fellowship of believers and in the ministry of Word and Sacrament that Jesus draws most near to us and we draw most near to Him.
Hasten the Day of the Lord my friends, and live as if the Kingdom of God is already at hand and is in your midst, because He is.
Thanks for joining me for another daily devotional in God’s Word, and remember, that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of tomorrow. Amen.
