2 Peter 1:9-10
For anyone who lacks these things is nearsighted and blind, and is forgetful of the cleansing of past sins. Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble.
Salvation may be free, but it isn’t cheap.
There are literally thousands of dollar-type stores around the United States. Even in our small rural town, we have one. And it’s very popular, particularly in these dire economic times. One can find a multitude of items there from kitchen utensils to pencils, from make-up to medicine. The problem is that often the quality of the items follows the price. Some things are a bargain; some are simply cheap. There are several things we purchased there that, bringing them home, broke or seriously disappointed. Those landed in the trash can.
Salvation isn’t something that we should drop into the trash can or even set aside on a shelf for peruse at a later time. Salvation is the most precious thing in our lives and should be given our foremost and constant attention. There are many things that demand our attention, but only one thing is worthy of our attention and that is our relationship with the Father that results in our eternal salvation.
Matthew Henry writes:
- “It requires a great deal of diligence and labour to make sure our calling and election; there must be a very close examination of ourselves, a very narrow search and strict enquiry, whether we are thoroughly converted, our minds enlightened, our wills renewed, and our whole souls changed as to the bent and inclination thereof; and to come to a fixed certainty in this requires the utmost diligence, and cannot be attained and kept without divine assistance.”
Life is so demanding. There are things to which we must attend, but we multiple those things unto ourselves, making our lives more complicated than necessary. We concern ourselves with things we can’t change or worry about the future over which we have no control. Should we be informed and intelligent about the world around us? Absolutely! But our primary focus should be on ministering to a lost world, to “working out our salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12). Isaiah 40:8 states that “the grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever.” Think about grass as being the necessities of life and the flower as the little extras. In a few short years (compared to eternity), it will all be gone! What will remain is the living Word of God, our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ.
Peter tells us to “be all the more eager to confirm your call and election.” When we are focused on supporting our faith with goodness, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, mutual affection and love, we are confirming our call and election. Each of our choices, our actions, should be measured against this standard. Only then will we embrace the vision of the future, spending eternity with our Father, as being the focus of our lives. Only then will our salvation be secured.