“So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”
2 Peter 1:10-11 NLT
So we must start in asking what these “things” are, that Peter is recommending. Again we go back to earlier in the chapter where we are told that God has “given us everything we need for living a godly life”. This will happen as we get to know God more and respond positively and proactively to His promises. But Peter includes a warning, that if we fail to do what he advises, then we are in danger of falling away. In other words, if we stop pursuing God, then we will become side-tracked into doing other things.
I know of several believers who became casualties of the Covid lockdowns here in the UK. Churches stopped holding Sunday in-person meetings and went on-line using video conferencing facilities such as Zoom. This was too big an ask for some people and they stopped participating in a techno-church. But, worse, when the churches I have in mind restarted their Sunday services, these people remained at home. Of course, a Christian doesn’t have to attend a church, but it helps if they do. Hebrews 10:25, “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near“. Without meeting with other Christians we will miss out on mutual encouragement and much more. A lone Christian becomes an easy target for the devil. Those enticing whispers, that sound so right, saying things like it doesn’t matter if you don’t attend a church service. After all, God will still love you, the devil says.
I have met people in the past who neglect to read the Bible, because, they say, they don’t understand what it says. In Peter’s day, the people lacked a Bible such as we have, relying instead on Jewish Scriptures, someone to expound them, and the teaching of the Apostles and others who knew Jesus. It was only much later that the Canon of Scripture was put together in the form that we have. But Peter’s encouragement to the believers in the Five Provinces in Asia Minor also applies today. In 2 Peter 1:5a he wrote, “In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. … “. 2 Peter 1:10a, “So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove … “. Understanding what the Bible says and applying it to our lives will take personal effort. It will do us no good to place a Bible under our pillows at night, and hope the truths and promises contained therein will somehow leap into our minds.
The New Testament contains several warnings about “falling away” from the faith. Revelation 2:4-5, “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches“. This warning, in a vision through the Apostle John, came directly from Jesus and was intended for the Ephesian believers. In 1 Timothy 4:1a, Paul wrote, “Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith … “. And then we have the ominous warning in Hebrews 6:4-6, “For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come— and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame“.
In Genesis 11 we find the story of Terah, Abraham’s father. Just a few verses but Terah heard God’s call to move to Canaan, but he never arrived there because he settled in a place called Haran, about half way to his destination, and he eventually died there. Perhaps in this brief episode we can read a warning about failing to reach the goal towards which God has called us. There is no half way house in God’s Kingdom. We pilgrim believers must be diligent and make every effort to stay faithful to God. If we find ourselves slipping away from the faith, then we must get on our knees once again and pray for forgiveness and the strength to stay on track.
Heavenly Father. Please help us to stay the course, and remain faithful to You. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 