Devotion 12/9, Commit to Christ Now!

The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives.
2 Peter 3:10-11

God will send Christ to this earth to destroy it one day. The day of the Lord will come as a thief – that is, unexpectedly and destructively. If you know Jesus as Savior however you will not be here to experience that! We who know Christ will be in heaven when all this takes place. The unsaved will be caught off-guard by His second coming and the devastation that will take place on this earth. But we who know Christ should not be caught off guard, we can look at the signs of His coming and live our lives as though He is coming today…for He just might!

Holiness is that forgotten character virtue that is the Christian’s reflection of God, our holy and righteous Father. In a day when grace is so easily cheapened, when anything goes just as long as we want to be buddies with Jesus, Peter’s words should shock us into reverence. Our holy commitment should be to set our lives apart from the evil and satanic sludge that defiles our world and to offer our bodies, hearts, and minds to do His will and reflect His character.

When I read this passage, I am reminded, when Jesus makes his next visit, their won’t be a second chance like the thief on the cross. He witnessed Christ on the cross, recognized Him as the Savior, and asked for forgiveness. When Christ comes again, it is not to save souls but to destroy by fire and lay barren this earth. There will not be an opportunity for forgiveness as that time will have passed. The time is now for a full commitment to Christ.

Father, teach me to do your will and reflect your character while offering your grace to others. May the movements of my heart, the thoughts of my mind, and the actions of my life be pleasing to you and reflect your holiness and grace. In Jesus’ holy name I pray. Amen.

Our nature seems to be to reason or justify how we live our lives. When I read the scriptures, there is a reason for every verse, God wants me to know how much he loves me. And there is His justification for every action, to show us He wants our hearts so that we can be with Him in Heaven.
He’s told the story, it’s not a mystery, we know how it ends. We know God’s laws and guidance, yet we try to reason and justify our lives by the ways of this world, and those ways are of satan.
Lord, I choose you. Cleanse my heart that I might be worthy of your love. Focus my eyes on your reason and your ways that I be a reflection of your unending love to someone that is a slave to this world. I seek your presence in all I say and do. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.