Jump Start # 1255

2 Peter 3:11-12 “Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning and the elements will melt with intense heat!”

  Our verse today points forward to the time the Lord is returning. He is not coming to start things, but to end things. He will not be establishing His kingdom, it is already established. He will deliver it to the Father. He is not coming to reign on earth, instead, earth will be destroyed. There were people in Peter’s day who did not believe this, and there are people today who do not believe this.

In the midst of all these thoughts, warnings and predictions is found an attitude of anticipation. Peter says, “Looking for and hastening the coming of the Lord.” This is something that they were wanting. They were not dreading it, hoping it would go away. They were not bummed out about this. They wanted this. They were excited about this. They were looking forward to it.

We are just days away from Christmas. People look forward to that day. I made the mistake of going to one of the malls yesterday. What a disaster. I was there to pick up one thing, for a friend. The highway leading to the mall was stopped with traffic, all going to the mall. Finding a parking spot was very hard. I kept thinking, don’t these people have to work. They probably thought the same thing about me. Of course, where the one parking space I found was about as far from the one store I was wanting to go. But I made it. All is fine. We put up with things like that because we anticipate a special day. We get excited about it. Children have a hard time going to sleep on Christmas eve. Parents, weary from all the things that they have done, also are excited about seeing the joy in their child’s hearts.

Anticipation can be a great thing. There used to be a ketchup commercial years ago, with a bottle turned upside down and the person just waiting for it to come out. In the back ground the song, “Anticipation,” played. The bride anticipates her wedding day. The young mother to be anticipates the birth of her child. Some anticipate days off, vacations and even retirement. The waiting is often hard. The anticipation kills some of us.

Peter’s words were echoing some major changes. The heavens would be destroyed and the elements will melt with the coming of the Lord. This was not an anticipation in fear, but in joy. Those early Christians weren’t dreading losing these physical things that have always been a part of their world. I have always been a moon watcher. I don’t know much about the moon, nor have I studied it, nor is it in my list of things to learn before I leave this place. I simply like looking at the moon. I notice it often. It amazes me that it’s something that Moses would have seen. Abraham as he journeyed may have looked up and seen the very same moon that I see now. Someday the moon will be gone. Will I miss it? No. It’s here now, it’s part of my world now, but what is coming is so much better. So much of life is like that. Do I miss school? No. It was a huge chunk of my life. I started in pre-school at age 4 and went through four years of college. That’s a lot of school. Do I miss walking down the halls of high school? No. Do I miss tests? No. Do I miss all that came with it? No. Neither do I miss dating. I don’t miss calling up a girl and nervously asking her out and hoping that she’ll say yes. I don’t miss the little chit chat that goes with dating. It was a part of my life, but I don’t miss it now. This earth serves a purpose for us. Someday that purpose will be fulfilled. Just as the Temple served a purpose. The tabernacle served a purpose. The ark of the covenant served a purpose. Just as our bodies serve a purpose. When those purposes have been fulfilled, those things are no longer needed. Miss them? Not much.

There is a great anticipation for the coming of the Lord. It brings the hopes of Heaven. The joys of salvation and grace fulfilled and realized. It brings the longing to be with the Lord forever. From what Peter is describing to us, the best is yet to come for the Christian. God could say, “You haven’t seen anything yet.”  This hope, this anticipation, this longing is what keeps us going. The best days are not behind us, they are before us. This motivates us to live holy and righteously. We don’t want to miss what’s coming. This hope is what pushes us to tell others about Jesus. Often it’s a sad and broken life that is looking for something better that leads one to Christ. Had the prodigal had the time of his life with the pigs, he would have never wanted to come home. His life was a disaster. The bottom fell out. The money and friends were gone. No one was there to help him. Alone, desperate, discouraged and ashamed, he longed to eat pig pods. Rough, hard, chewy, disgusting pods that only pigs would eat, is what the prodigal longed for. Some are like that today. They long for the next fix, the next drink, the next crime. They have settled for pig pods. Forgotten is what it’s like to be loved, warm, wanted and accepted. The prodigal hadn’t forgotten. His thoughts turned from pig pods to going home. He wanted to go home. That motivated him to get up and head that direction. The desire to be right with God will do that. The desire to be forgiven. It will lead one to walking away from sin and heading toward God. This heavenly anticipation is what drives us to want to worship God. He is indeed so good to us. This longing to be with God will move us to lift up our voices in song, bow our heads in prayer and open His word to drink in the will of God.

Something good is coming. That’s what Peter was telling his readers. It will be amazing. It will be like nothing we have seen before. This is so wonderful and great that you do not want to miss it. This is so awesome that you will live righteously and holy. This will be in our hearts and mind. It will be something that we talk about over and over. It will be something that each day we wish was now.

The excitement of a child at Christmas, illustrates the excitement that a child of God has for the coming of the Lord and all that comes with Him. Longing. Hastening. Anticipating. Wanting.

The best is yet to come. Believe it!

Roger