2 Peter 3; Jeremiah 45-46; Psalm 141

“… but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18 NKJV) 

These may not have been Peter’s last words, but they were the last words of his last letter. What beautiful, comforting, and challenging words. Prior to these words he had warned his readers about falling into the traps of the wicked. What we should do is grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus. Since grace comes from God, the only way to grow in grace would be to get ourselves out of God’s way and allow Him to work in us. We grow in knowledge through a variety of methods. We know about God better as we study His word. We experience His presence and grow in personal knowledge of God in prayer and in worship. We also grow in knowledge by recognizing His presence in the everyday activities of life. The more we grow in grace and knowledge, the more we give Him glory for all parts of our lives.

Perhaps the hardest part of the Christian life is that we don’t have a checklist that we can follow to ensure that we grow in grace or knowledge. I mentioned a few things above that will help us grow in knowledge, so it’s not like we do nothing to grow in Christ, but it’s possible to do all those things and still not grow in knowledge. We can read the Bible and not seek God’s message for us, we can make prayer a time to vomit our laundry list of concerns without taking the time to listen to God as He responds to our concerns and our praise and worship. We can say that God’s present in everything that happens, but then use that as an excuse to blame Him. We can even do everything the “right” way and still not grow. Perhaps we ought to turn this verse around. Perhaps, if we give him glory and praise first, we’ll experience more grace. Perhaps, as we experience God’s grace and draw closer to Him, we’ll grow in knowledge. I know, there’s a lot of perhapsing there. What I can say is that if you continue seeking God’s presence, and live in obedience to His call on your life, you won’t regret it in the long run.

Lord, give me the grace I need to grow in knowledge and grace. Let me give you glory in all that I do and all that I experience in life.