Repent And Live

Meditation

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.

(2 Peter 3:9)

Anyone who came to repentance later in life, like me, should all be extremely thankful for the message of this verse. Christ could have returned at any time in the past, but he waited for each of us to turn from our sins and seek his face. If we had died at a time before we were saved, our eternal destination would have been hell. We should all let that sink in for a moment. He waited for you and me, normal everyday sinners, whom he knows by name, to repent and turn to him. How mercifully gracious is that? Now he’s waiting to give each and every person on the planet time to realize they need him. We might think he’s being slow, or might not come at all, but he’s just being patient with the people still in rebellion.

The promise this verse is talking about is Christ’s return to sit on the throne and rule the earth. Because these words were written so long ago, and he hasn’t returned yet, some want us to believe Jesus isn’t really going to return at all. Obviously, most of them don’t believe in Jesus at all, so why would they believe he returning? Some believe his coming is allegorical, that he remains in heaven and only rules in our hearts. After all, the Apostle Peter wrote these words over nineteen hundred years ago. Before he ascended into heaven, Jesus promised he would return. About forty years later Peter had to explain to his contemporaries that even though Jesus hadn’t come back yet, he was still going to keep his promise to return.

From the very beginnings of the Church, the first believers were expecting the imminent return of Jesus. They were looking for him to come any day. When he does return, if you have yet to surrender your soul to him, you may die in the tumult that arises. When the Day of the Lord comes, if you haven’t been killed in the last few years of God’s Wrath being poured out, you likely will at the end of the world as we know it. Jesus sits by the Father’s side and awaits his command to gather his flock. Many of us believe we are the generation that will see his return but even if we pass before he does come back, we will still hear him say, “Come up here!” 

Prayer Time

Father God, we thank you for the promised return of Jesus. There are many who will chide us for believing in a promise that hasn’t come true in two thousand years. Please embolden us to remind them that your promise of a savior, in the Garden of Eden, but didn’t fulfill that promise for approximately four thousand years. Before he ascended into heaven, Jesus promised to return to rule and reign here on Earth. Your timing is not ours. We long for the return of Jesus and we tend to get impatient. We are tired of seeing how evil this world has become. We’re sick of counting the dead babies dumped on the altar of choice. We’re on our knees waiting for Jesus. We know that you will send Jesus to us at the proper time. We thank you for being patient with us and waiting for us to come to our senses and turn our lives over to the lordship of Jesus. We pray that everyone we know will also submit to your will and confess Jesus as the Lord of their lives. It’s in his perfect and precious name, we pray. Amen!