At Peace

...strive to be found by him at peace...

 - From 2 Peter 3

Our lives should be lived as though Christ would return at any moment, any instant. 

We used to talk about that a lot. But in the intervening years, and decades even, we have become more and more like the people Jesus spoke about in other parables: people that were not ready, that got distracted by the cares and pleasures of life. Cares AND pleasures.

But don't we deserve to be happy? 

I don't know about that, but God wants us to be happy, and interestingly enough, the road to happiness is grounded in selflessness and service to others, not in doing things that stimulate our senses.

We should be found "without spot or blemish" when Christ returns. That's a whole thirteen week Bible study right there. But can our generation handle a discussion of the definition of "spots" and "blemishes"? If it were easy, would we require such an admonition? Spots and blemishes are so much easier to identify, on others.

It is the Season of Peace. Would we be found "at peace" if Christ returned today? 

Or would we be frantically fighting crowds at shopping malls? Would we be rushing from one party to the next, barely taking the time to listen to someone?

Would we be engaging in ugly, angry political debates on-line? Would we be carping about the last thing Donald Trump tweeted, or Barack Obama did? Is that what it looks like to be "at peace"?

Simon Peter is quite clear in his list of things to think about, relating to the Coming of Christ. Can we even handle the "peace" part? It's not something you have to go out and make others observe. It's a state of mind that you must cultivate in yourself.