My grandson, Timothy, is in his second sleep regression at five months. He was sleeping several hour stretches each night and now he’s not, maybe because he’s teething or developing motor skills like rolling and sitting more rapidly at this stage. My generation was lacking the labels this generation enjoys but maybe there was some simplicity in our ignorance. I expected the worst and I was sometimes disappointed, but on those rare occasions when we had three kids under age three and a half and everybody slept or we managed a car trip to visit family without stopping, I’m sure the angels in heaven sensed my silent rejoicing because everybody knows you never wake a sleeping baby!
This desire to understand and define everything is expected and applauded in this day and age but I see it damaging faith on a daily basis. Everyone wants to be the expert on raising children or cattle or gardens and the competition is fierce for viewership, likes, and follows. There’s a platform for everything and information is free, but at what cost?
How do you know who to trust? Influencers make claims and establish credentials easily enough, but that hardly matters when we scroll so quickly, collecting gems to add to our walls and pages without discretion. As long as it catches my eye and resonates with where my thoughts and emotions are circling at any given moment, I like it and maybe even share it.
I’m guilty too. I’m glad for the encouragement, recipes, fun facts, definitions, and words of wisdom that challenge me. I especially love seeing how many people are using every available channel to share the gospel of Jesus. I can block or unfollow the rest. This is an amazing time to be alive but also more than ever, we need to know Truth to have the discernment required for living a godly life as Peter contends.
“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.
We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.
And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises.
These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.
In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises.
Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.
The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.
So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen.
Do these things, and you will never fall away. ”
2 Peter 1:3-10 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2pe.1.3-10.NLT
Young mothers look to social media more than to mothers and mentors now, especially with physical distance from family. They want to be certain their babies are developing appropriately and I applaud them for their diligence, but with little ones, there’s not always a reason for something, a why behind every whimper. So much added stress comes from measuring ourselves and our children against an online ideal. Our hearts and souls and those of our children are unique, fashioned by God in His own image, and crafted to be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus. All this information and comparison distracts from the most important thing, the eternal God of the universe.
Peter longs for Christians to be productive in our faith, and to do so, he reminds us we must know our Bibles and we must pair our words with action. The fiery impulsive disciple who spoke without thinking on more than one occasion, now, while staring death in the face, by his brief correspondence recognizes that what has been said, revealed, spoken and recorded by the prophets is enough. By it Peter and his brother Andrew recognized Jesus as Christ, the Messiah. He signs his confession, attesting to the truth of what he has seen and heard and ends with a stern warning, almost as if he could look into the future and see our time.
“This is my second letter to you, dear friends, and in both of them I have tried to stimulate your wholesome thinking and refresh your memory.
I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Savior commanded through your apostles.
Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires.”
2 Peter 3:1-3 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2pe.3.1-3.NLT
But you-
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.
Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil.”
Proverbs 3:5, 7 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/pro.3.5-7.NLT
There are undoubtedly things we will not be allowed to understand this side of eternity, things we must believe and accept by faith without sight, but we cannot piecemeal God’s Words on a whim to suit ourselves. We cannot embrace his love and not his righteous judgement. His word says to fear the Lord and to turn away from evil. As I was explaining to Thomas earlier today, obeying his mom isn’t just answering her appropriately. His yes ma’am must be accompanied by action. Jesus described this exact thing.
““But what do you think about this?
A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’
The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway.
Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go.
“Which of the two obeyed his father?”
They replied, “The first.”
Then Jesus explained his meaning: “I tell you the truth, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do.
For John the Baptist came and showed you the right way to live, but you didn’t believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes did.
And even when you saw this happening, you refused to believe him and repent of your sins.”
Matthew 21:28-32 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.21.28-32.NLT
“You already know these things, dear friends.
So be on guard; then you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing.
Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
All glory to him, both now and forever!
Amen.”
2 Peter 3:17-18 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2pe.3.17-18.NLT
As a parent and grandparent, mentor and friend, my priority should be making my actions agree with my words and that is only possible by the conviction and power of the indwelling Holy Spirit since my words and actions should be rightly aligned with and reflective of God’s Word, Jesus. To know Him is to love Him, and to make Him known.
“Therefore, I will always remind you about these things—even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth you have been taught.
And it is only right that I should keep on reminding you as long as I live. For our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me that I must soon leave this earthly life, so I will work hard to make sure you always remember these things after I am gone.
For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes when he received honor and glory from God the Father.
The voice from the majestic glory of God said to him, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”
We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.
Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets.
You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place—until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts.
Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative.
No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.”
2 Peter 1:12-21 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2pe.1.12-21.NLT
What will you do with what you know? Make Jesus’s prayer your own.
“O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do… I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so.”
John 17:25-26 NLT
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