Mark Twain once famously stated,
It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.
I’m always wary when someone expresses any degree of certainty about what the end times will be like and I’m especially skeptical of strong opinions regarding when the present age will come to an end.
I find that passages like 2 Peter 3 provide poignant advice for how we should live, but if we are not cautious we can focus on the wrong things. Peter provides a glimpse of what the “last days” will be like:
- Scoffers will taunt us the longer Christ takes to return (2 Peter 3:4-5)
- The ungodly will be judged and perish (v. 7)
- The heavens will disappear and the earth will be destroyed by fire (v. 10)
We can get so wrapped up in deciphering what the end times will be like and then attempting to identify these elements in our current time, that we completely miss Peter’s main point:
So what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming….So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. (2 Peter 3:11b-12a,14)
Lord God,
I praise you that you are all-knowing. I am not. I have no idea when, and little idea how, this present age will come to an end. But regardless, I DO know that I have a very limited time here on this earth. It’s my sincere desire that I live it with urgency and make the most of it. I want to live a holy and godly life and make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with you. Amen.
Greg (gmd40187)
Sixty-six books in a year 