Lesson 23: Diligence no matter what happens

Read 2 Peter 1:1-21- https://www.bible.com/bible/59/2pe.1
 12 Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have.
13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder,
14 since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me.
15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

Sometimes life gets busy and we have many things to distract us from what Jesus wants us to be part of with Him in His kingdom. Sometimes things happen to make us fear, and perhaps, as our verses today suggest, that fear is about the death of our body or the death of someone we love. But even death is not something we should fear so much that we give up the diligence Jesus asks us to keep as we trust Him and serve Him.


In our verses today, Peter says he knows his death is coming soon. But rather than focusing on himself and being afraid, he spends this time in encouraging those to whom he has preached about Jesus, encouraging them to be faithful to Him.

In the first verse above, Peter says he will keep reminding those to whom he is writing. Sometimes we get tired of hearing the same thing said to us over and over. Remember when you were young and your mother kept reminding you to pick up things you left behind and put them where they belonged? We did not like the reminder only because we did not want to do what she asked us to do. The same is often true of the things Jesus reminds us of. Maybe He reminds us to wait and pray with Him, but we want to do something exciting and rewarding. Maybe we think we are too busy to wait and pray. In Luke 10:38-42 we find a little story of two sisters who were hosting Jesus in their home. One sister worked hard to prepare a great meal for Jesus – she cleaned and did everything so the house and the meal would be just right. The other sister sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to Him as He talked with the guests. We are not told what Jesus said; we only know that Jesus never wasted time talking about things that did not matter.

When the older sister became impatient with her younger sister for not helping, she came to Jesus and asked Him to tell Mary to come and help her. Jesus reminded Martha about what He considered to be the most important thing – listening to Him. Was being a good hostess a bad thing? Of course not. In fact, the Bible says in many places we are to be good hosts to our guests. Even Peter said this in 1 Peter 4:9-11. But there is a time for doing things, and there is a time for waiting and listening to Jesus.

*What do you use as a reminder to yourself to spend time with Jesus every day?