What is permanent?

2 Peter 3:¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. ¹¹ Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, ¹² looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?

We live in the context of routine.  In the midst of routine we view much of life as unchanging, fixed, permanent.  The passage above reminds us that very little that we consider permanent really is.  Certainly we see change in our lives and in the lives of every person we have known for any significant length of time.  The world around us may seem the most unchanging.  The possibility that weather patterns might gradually change is somewhat disturbing as it disturbs the comfort of our familiar world.  But, just as in the days of Noah, there is a promise of startling change looming ahead.  It will be a cataclysmic event that seems as hard to fathom as Creation, where God brought all that we see into being with a word.  I think that this passage is so difficult because it seems so final and so complete.  But then, we are also grateful for a salvation that is also final and complete and for an eternal destiny that lies beyond the familiar and beyond the limits of destruction.  We are grateful for the "rest of the promise" ¹³ Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Our lives are not permanent on earth...Earth itself is not permanent.  But there is a home with the Permanent One and the quality of our lives may help others to come to this realization.

 

blessings,

Rob Smith