If you leave a kid alone in a room with a cookie, promising them that if they don’t eat that one cookie for five minutes then you will give them two cookies…what would happen? Well more often than not they will eat the other cookie almost immediately. (See video above)
If you leave a nation of people in the wilderness at the foot of a mountain for forty days while you write down all of the laws and tell them that if they obey your laws, you will be their God and they will be your people…what would happen? Well more often than not they will make a golden calf and start worshiping it. (See Exodus 32)
If you leave a world while you go and prepare a place for those who are faithful and obedient to you and instruct them that if they remain faithful until you return that they will live with you in your kingdom forever…what would happen? Well Peter says that they will begin to forget and doubt and scoff. (See 2 Peter 3)
They will become so doubt-filled that they will make fun of those who are faithful. And yet Peter says, how can
you forget who made everything? How can you forget who made the oceans? But even if you forget all of that, don’t forget that God’s timing is God’s timing. Don’t you dare think that just because God doesn’t do things on your schedule that he isn’t in control.
So you must live as children who patiently don’t eat the cookie. You must live as a people who believe God is still on the mountain. You must keep the faith and keep living according the teachings given you. Don’t fall from your secure position, but continue growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.
And then there is that great section where Peter acknowledges the valuable writings of Paul, which are admittedly complicated and difficult to read. That always makes me laugh. But it’s also really good to see the cooperation and community that existed between the two church leaders.
Northwest Church Bible Blog 