“Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:18)
God has blessed me with a powerful ministry. My newspaper column, which is also featured on my website – www.devotions.com – is read by almost a quarter of a million readers each week.
Two years ago, at the urging of my wife’s former pastor, we launched an email ministry for those readers who want to have my weekly column hand-delivered to their email boxes each week. When we launched our email ministry, I had no idea the impact that it would have on my ministry. We have almost 1000 subscribers, much like a church, and for many of them, I have become their “cyber pastor”. It is a responsibility I do not take lightly. In fact, it is the reason I decided to ask my church to ordain me as a minister, knowing that I will be held by God to a higher standard for the advice and counsel given through my ministry.
One thing I have learned about this ministry is the impressions most of my readers form about me come from what they learn about me in the columns written. They don’t know me personally, but they have found some hope and encouragement through the columns they read each week. So when a problem comes their way, they occasionally turn to me for Christian advice. I often remind them that I am really no different from them. I struggle just like they struggle; make mistakes just like they make; have doubts just like they have; and just like them, have times in my life when I don’t look very much like the Christian they have come to know and respect in the columns they read.
Many times the advice offered is the advice I try to apply in my own life. I seek God’s forgiveness and pray that he will continue to grant me the wisdom to make wiser choices in life. And when I get out of bed the next morning, I just try to live a day that will be more pleasing to God than the day before.
That’s what growing in grace and knowledge means. Just like Peter, we should learn from the poor choices we make. Growing in grace and knowledge means trying times will inevitably surface during our Christian walk. As each new trial comes, I have the opportunity to overcome the trial now faced by applying what God taught me through the previous trials experienced. The Psalmist said it this way: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” Psalm 30:5
Did you know that Peter was the only Apostle who used the expression “Lord and Savior? He used that term four times in a letter to Christians that is known as 2 Peter. God couldn’t have picked a better person to remind folks that we need to remember that Jesus wants both our Lord and our Savior. Think about it. The man who is known to have denied even knowing Jesus is now teaching us to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Jesus died for our sins, but he lives to be our Lord. That’s why he said, “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
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