"Make Every Effort"

Good Morning,

2 Peter 1:1-11 (NIV)
Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
(Emphasis mine, DRB)

Today, in these verses from 2 Peter, we are given a sort of plan, or maybe we can consider it a road map, in where we should go and how we should grow as followers of Jesus. Just as we must give the basics in educating children in our schools, so also must we, Christians, have certain basics in us in order to grow in our walk with the Lord.

Peter first takes for granted that those he's speaking to are believers in Jesus and have accepted Him into their lives as Lord and Savior. I say this because Peter mentions faith as the cornerstone to Christianity. He then goes on to tell us what we should "make every effort to add" to the faith that we already possess. Yes, faith does, truly, come in degrees...that is some will appear to have more faith than others...but, we ALL have faith and belief that Jesus died on the cross and was raised from the dead so that He would be the Sacrifice for all of those who will accept Him.

So, it comes to us what we should do now that we have this faith in the Lord. We are to add to our faith certain characteristics that will mark us as Christians and, I think it's clear, that they should come in a certain order which seem to logically follow in the progression that Peter set them down. Therefore, we are to do all we can "make every effort" to actively seek goodness, then knowledge, then self control, then perseverance, then godliness, then brotherly kindness, then love. These qualities, for the most part I think, are all present in us to one degree or another. But, I also believe that we must consciously strive to add them into our lives in a greater degree, so that we will be obviously marked as Christians. You see, those in the world...those people who have not come to accept Jesus Christ into their lives, are NOT good, knowledgeable, patient, persevering, godly people who are concerned with their neighbor's well being and filled with the love of God. You and I SHOULD BE exactly like that.

Now, as Peter points out, being this kind of person will not come without some work on our part; it will not come without prayer; it will not come without help from God and from our brothers and sisters in Christ. In order to truly make a difference in the world and to be effective in helping to bring people to Christ, we must be willing to do what is needed to BE the person God wants us to be and HAVE the attributes that Peter is exhorting us to have. Now, this isn't like a two week "program" that we can get on and be changed by some "magic" or other. No, this process is life long, I believe. Day by day, week by week, month by month, and year by year, we have to deliberately work on ourselves so we can have these qualities deeply ingrained in our lives.

Okay. The good news...

Then, of course, at the end of this section of Scripture, we read that there is, truly, a reward for the efforts we make..."For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." I can't get into your mind and think what you think, but for myself, I certainly want the rewards that we read of here.

All of the efforts we make will be more than worth the work. Of that I am certain.

Love, peace, and blessings,

David