True & Beautiful Things About the Bible--New TestamentSample

2 Peter: Trust Him Sooner

It’s one of the most common spiritual life questions people ask: How do I grow closer to God?

In large part, that’s what this final letter from the apostle Peter is about, and also what our lives as followers of Jesus should be about every day.

The purpose of life isn’t to stay alive longer—it’s to live the life Jesus wants for you. Everything that goes into this kind of life that pleases God has been miraculously given to us by the One who invited us to God. The purpose of our lives is to know Him, personally and intimately.

Want your life to count?—all the way to the end? Your first choice is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Then, Peter wrote, here are seven things to build into your life today: (See also 2 Peter 1:5-8).

1. Add to your faith, good character. Pay attention to who you are when no one is looking.

2. Then, keep learning. Develop a spiritual understanding by studying His Word and taking it to heart. Nobody grows closer to God by accident.

3. Train yourself to be sensitive to God’s voice in your spirit and in His Word. Obey asap.

4. Stay in the game. Sometimes, all you can do in a day is not give up. Develop that kind of patient endurance.

These first four are all private, happening inside your head. Now the list continues with things that are public:

5. Add to all that, godliness—make behavior choices that please God.

6. Then add brotherly kindness—a deep and empathetic consideration of others.

7. Finally, let God’s kind of love be true of you. Agape love says, “you before me.” This leads to a beautiful, generous kind of life.

Some of these are simple; some are complicated. But these are the steps that lead you closer to God. And just so you know, God welcomes you closer—He loves you like crazy.

“His divine power has given [you] everything [you] need for a godly life through your knowledge of Him who called [you] by His own glory and goodness.”2 Peter 1:3-4

When some senior saints were recently asked if they had any regrets in life, several agreed, saying, “We would have trusted God sooner in every challenge. It begins there. Don’t let anything hinder you from growing closer to Him.” (One even said, “if I would have believed Him sooner, I would have had more fun.”)

Next: What it means to “walk in the light”