Scripture
"The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 1:8-9)
Observation
Knowing God changes your eternity AND growing in God changes your every day. When we receive Jesus as our Savior we find forgiveness, salvation, and He covers the wages of our sin. Because of Him, our eternity is secure...but have you noticed that life still happens. I mean, it sure would be nice if we were swept up to heaven the second we submit our lives to God, but that’s not what He does. Rather, He leaves us, or even better said sends us, to represent Him and testify to this world. But if we were honest...most the time we don’t do a very good job of that. We know God, yet we’re still slaves to our emotions, prisoners to our habits, and ambassadors of our flesh, and herein lies the crux of God’s lesson for me today.
Knowing God changes your eternity AND growing in God changes your every day.
In 2 Peter 1, Peter boldly states that in knowing God we are granted everything we need to live a Godly life. It’s all available to us based on His promises and in His grace. You might be thinking, “So if it’s all there then why does my life sometimes feel so unproductive and hard” Well, Peter goes on to say that in response to His promises and grace we need to work on growing! He says add to your faith excellence, knowledge, self control, patient endurance, godliness, brotherly affections and love, and then concludes, the more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be. Growing changes your every day! Growing creates an atmosphere of fruit, of productivity, of usefulness, and of fulfilling His purposes.
Application
Do you want to be more productive for God?
Do you want to bear more fruit for His Kingdom?
Do you want to get better at resisting temptation?
Do you want to get better at knowing His will?
Have you felt stagnant?
If you said “yes” to one or all of these questions the key...growing. Maybe today you can grow in your love by choosing to forgive that person you’ve held something against for years. Maybe today God is asking you to work on self control by changing your routine and taking a stand against that sinful habit you often willingly fall into. Maybe today He is reminding you to rely on His strength through that tough circumstance you’ve been facing so you can grow in patient endurance. Whatever it is, the goal should be to commit to growing in God daily.
My son just started lifting weights a week ago, and today he asked me, “When will lifting the weights get easier?” Growth won’t happen in a day but it does happen daily! Keep working at it, stay committed to it, don’t get complacent with where you’re at, and you will see God changing your every day!
Prayer
Jesus, thank You for the hope we have knowing that our eternity is promised and our every day is productive when we commit to growing in You. Help us to not give up when things get hard or when things don’t progress as fast as we want them to. Help us to commit to obedience, to commit to growth, to commit to You. In Your name, Amen!
