"And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." 1 John 3:3 (speaking of Jesus' 2nd coming). The word used in that verse is qavah.
Qavah in Hebrew means to look for, hope, expect, or to wait/look eagerly for.
That is also the same word used in the Isaiah 40:31 verse:
"Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.
We are not just to wait for Jesus coming like waiting in line for two hours in the FL heat for a Disney ride, but we are to wait like when I look eagerly for the conception of our firstborn child.
That really hit me this week during my study of 2 Peter 3. How do I wait?
I feel sure God will allow me to become pregnant so I am on the alert, always noticing small changes in my body, there have even been some months I would have bet money on my being pregnant. But the truth is I don't know the hour it will happen or if it will happen during my lifetime. I still eagerly take part in that monthly waiting game, waiting to see if this month is the month of a coming baby!
In Peter's 2nd letter, he spends the first 10 verses of the 3rd chapter explaining the surety of Jesus' 2nd coming. In Matthew 24, Luke 12, and 1 Thessalonians 5 we are told to be on the alert, prepared, for Jesus will come like a thief in the night, no one knows the day or hour.
In both Luke 17 and Matthew 24 Jesus' 2nd coming is compared to the flood of Noah "For as in those days before the flood they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all." And likened also to the the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Luke 17:28-29, "It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; 29 but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all."
So we aren't to "eat, drink and be merry; for tomorrow we die"? The very opposite! We are to be on ALERT!
It's funny on months that I think for sure I am pregnant I begin to change things as I wait until I can test. I cut down my caffeine intake to only one 12oz cup of coffee a day. I skip on taking meds for a headache or cold. I eat healthier and I am less easily stressed. My hope fixed in things to come shape my behavior to be the perfect nest for a growing life.
Reality check! How does my hope fixed on Jesus' coming shape my behavior?
After Peter, in his 2 letter, reminds us of the surety of Jesus coming he uses the rest of the 3rd chapter to explain how we should be living if we believe that promise. As Christians we are looking for, qavah, eagerly waiting the new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:13).
Peter writes in verse 14, "Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things":
Be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless (v.14)
Regard the patience of the Lord as salvation (v.15)
Knowing some distort scriptures, be on guard, so that you are not carried away by error of unprincipled men (v.16-17)
Grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (v.18)
We are to be ones who consistently practice these things as we eagerly wait! "so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints." 1 Thessalonians 3:13.
Just as my hope fixed on a baby makes me change my behaviors and purify my body, "And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." 1 John 3:3.
P.S. I remember packing for our most recent trip in the RV this week and it made me think, I put SO much preparation in going over the list, laying everything I need out, going over the list again with a highlighter, and double-checking everything is accounted for as I load it up. If I spend so much thought and energy studying the list and being diligent to not forget anything so that all is found completely packed for a 4 day trip to the mountains, why do I think that a trip to heaven is any different?
Am I being like the New Testament tells us to be: actively studying God's word and storing up His truth so we grow, ALERT and discerning of false teachers of distorted truth, and being diligent to walk in Him, being found holy and blameless when He comes?
How is Jesus coming making you prepare for the trip?
Posted by Shannon
Soli Deo gloria - Glory to God alone
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