Abundance Of Entrance...

I am starting to sound like a broken record, but I will say it again to start this week's blogs:

Bronx Bethany, how we need to pray!

Sunday's sermon, titled Making Sure In A Time Of Uncertainty, gave us many important insights to reflect on throughout this week. In fact, one week is not long enough to unpack all the details and implications brought out by Pastor Sam's exposition on Second Peter chapter 1.

Today we will just reflect on the phrase "abundance of entrance". Pastor Sam made a comment, complete with animation, of how he desires to enter heaven not by the bare minimum of effort, but after a lifetime of holy living made possible by God's own power working in us. Although we had a good laugh at Pastor Sam's imagery of angels having to step out of his way as he burst into the heavenly realms, there is a passage in scripture that gives us pause... perhaps it even disturbs us, if we think about it long enough.

As was noted clearly in the sermon, there are some believers who are not terribly interested in growing in their walk with the Lord. Their interest is in 'just getting by'. Instead of avoiding pitfalls, they play at the edge in expectation that God will somehow excuse their penchant for living on the edge of disaster.

I'll give a personal example. If God says that I am not to be yoked together with unbelievers, yet I continually choose to date and court non-Christians, then I've deliberately increased the odds that I will end up in serious romantic involvement with lovers who cannot appreciate Jesus Christ, the deepest Lover of my soul. I spent years as a so-called 'Christian' engaged in this pattern of thinking, and am so glad that God in His mercy created the right set of circumstances to break me free from that cycle by His Spirit.

Verse 23 in the book of Jude speaks of 'snatching others from the fire'- that is, those who have chosen the corruption that is in them rather than abandoning their own nature for the divine nature (Second Peter 1:4). I was snatched from the fire. Some of you have to snatch others from the fire. And some of you are in the fire, and due to your callousness might not even realize that you will burn to death unless God sends a rescue team.

God is in the business of rescuing... but when He sends the rescue squad, will you cooperate in the rescue effort? Or will you retreat further into the flames?

Therefore, my brothers... 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. (Second Peter 1:10-11)