1-5-2023

Good Morning All,

     2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you”

     How many times have you made a promise?  How many times has someone made a promise to you?  How many times have you broken promise?  How many broken promises have you had?  All of these questions probably are quite a few.  A big part of this is we use the word promise way too freely.  I promise to pick up supper on the way home.  I promise to wash clothes when I get home.  I promise to come to your ballgame.  I have made all those promises and broke each of them, more than once.

    Perhaps you have too.  We all have made promises and not kept them.  Yet most of us have made major promises which you are keeping.  For those of you who are married, how long have you been keeping that promise?  If you are not married, look at your parents and grandparents. 

    Notice the change in the verb from kept (or made) to keeping.  A true promise is one that you are always keeping or fulfilling.  That is what the verse for this morning is telling us.  The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise…toward you.  The Lord made a promise to you; a personal promise to you.  The Lord God, creator of the universe, makes and is keeping his promise to you.

    Another thing about this promise is that it looks to the future.  When you took (or will take) your wedding vows, you are promising for tomorrow.  You promise to love and remain faithful “until death us do part.”  God promise for you is future oriented as well.  The promise made to you is a continuing promise for eternity.  You are given the promise of eternal life.  It is looking forward to what God promises not to what you did in the past.

    Another thing about a promise is that it depends on the person who makes it.  We all know (or may be) someone who makes a promise, and the expectation is often (we’ll see).  The promise depends on the trustworthiness of the one who makes it.  God is always faithful to his promises.  God’s promises are always kept.  That is part of why God addresses himself as “the God of your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”  It shows God’s faithfulness.

    This is the promise for you.  It looks forward and depends totally on God.  It comes to us as a gift.  God keeps this promise every day.  Even, maybe even especially, on those days when we struggle or feel that God is far away; He isn’t.  He is always close to you, keeping his promise; a promise that includes eternal life, the comfort of the Holy Spirit and the fellowship of your fellow believers.  God keeps his promises new and fresh every day, trust in his promises.

   Dear Father in heaven, we give thanks for your holy promise.  Give us the strength and the courage to hold onto that promise.  Lead us by your Spirit forward with your promise.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret