2 peter 3: 18
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
A friend and I were talking yesterday when he said he feels like he has lost a year of his life to Covid. I well imagine a lot of us feel that way. It gave me pause, though, and I have two responses to it.
First of all, the year is not over yet. So, I ask you, what do you want this year to stand for? You’ve still got several months to turn this year around if you don’t like where you are right now. Further, I would suggest we all begin to think about next year as well and decide what we want out of it. You do not have to give your life away to Covid. Sure, there are restrictions. Not all is as it was, and it may be a while before we return to life as we knew it. Still, you can make something good out of this bad situation.
In that light I wish for you to consider today’s verse, and this brings me to my second comment. We get to decide what life will be for us, at least to some degree. We were not meant be stagnant. We are meant to grow and learn. Every day of our lives is meant to be part of the transformation to which Christ invites us. So, I ask you again, what do you want? What do you want to be able to claim at the end of this year? This verse says we are to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus. It is not too late to do exactly that. We don’t have to throw 2020 away entirely. We can grow. Most of us are not as busy as we once were so there is more discretionary time to put towards growing in Jesus.
Please, don’t be a victim of this time of challenge. Be an aggressive learner. There are so many ways you can turn these challenges in to a positive. We know that people are really struggling and even suffering. You could help those people. Don’t waste a single day of your life. Don’t look back and say, “I wish I had read my Bible more or prayed more or joined the prayer team.” Write some letters, start exercising, take a class, buy a book on the Bible or a Bible figure. Do something! Make these last two and a half months meaningful. What do you want? What do you want to say you gained out of 2020?
Let’s be champions of what Jesus has done for us. Let’s grow in his grace. Let’s grow in the knowledge of him. This is our moment, let us not waste it!