Who Ought We To Be?

2 Peter 3:8-13 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

“8Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.

 

“10But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.

 

“11Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to conduct yourselves in holiness and godliness 12as you anticipate and hasten the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt in the heat. 13But in keeping with God’s promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.”

 

With The Lord

 

God is not on our timetable, but we are to be on His. He (Jesus/God) could return at any moment, or not for a long time. And so we must live today as though this moment could be our last moment on this earth. And we should continue in Christ and in His love and mercy, in obedience to His commands, as though today could be our last. We must not assume that just because He has not yet returned for His bride that He could not return today, or that we could not die today. We should not ever take His patience for granted.

 

God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit – is patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance. But this is not saying that all will come to repentance and that none will perish if God waits long enough. The Scriptures are very clear on that subject that if we do not surrender our lives to the Lord, die to sin, and obey God and His commands, in life practice, but if we continue in deliberate and habitual sin in disobedience to His commands, we will not inherit eternal life with Him.

 

The Day of The Lord

 

There is coming a day when Jesus will return to gather His faithful bride to be with Him for eternity and to judge those who refused Him. And those who refuse Him include many (perhaps multitudes of) people who profess faith in Jesus Christ with their lips but who live their lives for the sinful pleasures of the flesh, instead. On that day they will hear Him say: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” And “I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!” Take Heed! (see Matthew 7:21-23)

 

Who Ought We To Be?

 

Knowing that one day our Lord is going to return to judge the earth and the people who live on the earth, and that only those whose lives are given over to the Lord to obey Him, and to no longer live as slaves to sin, will have eternal life with God, we ought to be those who, by the grace of God, conduct ourselves in holiness and godliness, in the power of God, by faith in Jesus Christ. Lying, cheating, stealing, committing adultery, unfaithfulness, disloyalty, and all sexual immorality, etc., are to be put out of our lives.

 

And now we are to live holy lives, pleasing to God. Our lives are to be surrendered to the Lord, and He is now to be ruler of our lives, and not ourselves. We don’t get to determine our own steps, but we now follow the leading of the Lord in who we are and in what we do and say. This doesn’t mean we will do everything perfectly, or that we will never fail (see 1 John 2:1-2), but that we should no longer be walking in sin living in disobedience to God, but now our Lord should be the true master of our lives.

 

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

 

Who Ought We To Be?

An Original Work / November 3, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

As the Deer

 

By Martin J. Nystrom

Based off Psalm 42:1

 

As the deer panteth for the water

So my soul longeth after You

You alone are my heart's desire

And I long to worship You

 

You alone are my strength, my shield

To You alone may my spirit yield

You alone are my heart's desire

And I long to worship You

 

[A Prayer of Devotion to God Alone]