Most of us have no idea how or when we are going to die. Even when given a diagnosis which might prove fatal, or when told by a doctor we have a certain number of months or years to live, there is a vagueness and uncertainty to these predictions. As a result, there is a certain haphazardness to our lives. We tend to be all over the place with how we choose to spend our time and what we choose as the substance of our conversations. Like Paul in 2 Timothy, the letter of 2 Peter is a swan song from the author. With Peter's death approaching his words were passionate and very direct. There is a tendency for us who read Scripture to pick out verses that we like as though it is a self-help book. But this is a real letter written by an apostle with a real message. Peter saw a growing faction within the church of false teachers who were introducing various heresies and were pulling believers away. He also had the ability to see the danger that this would result in unless the believers were anchored to the truth. In both 2 Timothy and 2 Peter we get some of the strongest encouragements to anchor our faith onto the solid rock of God's Word. With the end of their lives apparent, their words were extremely direct. They knew their impending deaths were imminent, but warned the believers to stop living for the day, as Peter wrote in 2 Peter 3:10, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night,...". Peter was warning them to avoid distractions, false teachers, and being led astray. He was advising them to live a life of focus, using God's Word as the source of that focus.

Peter knew his time on earth was short, as we read in 2 Peter 1:13-15, "Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus showed me (John 21:18-19). Moreover, I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease." With this in mind, he directs them to the absolute authority of the Word of God, as we read in 1:19-21, "And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." The authenticity of God's Word and it's perfection of being God's Word rather than man's is revealed in 2 Peter and 2 Timothy, as we read in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." Contrast this with what Peter was witnessing and knew would only get worse, as we read in 2 Peter 2:1, "But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction." Then looking into the future, Peter looks into our current reality, as he says in 3:3, "knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts,".

What Peter knew would happen has occurred. We live in a society without an anchor. People follow leaders who simply espouse whatever they believe is right from their own faulty philosophy. People who spend the bulk of their time distracted with one superficial thing or another raise themselves as their own little experts. Espousing their views which are a conglomeration of worldly philosophy, their own flesh, along with erroneous teaching from errant individuals, our society is absolutely lost and debased. Many call themselves agnostic, using themselves as the source of what is truth. The Bible is not a self-help book. It is the only Book which holds the keys to life. It is the only Book which can give purpose to a purposeless life. It is the only source that can stop us from following worldly pursuits in a continuing altered state of distraction. Paul knew it. Peter knew it. And most importantly, God certainly knew it, that is why He left us with His instruction manual, as some like to use the word Bible as an acrostic: Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth. Lastly, if instead of walking around aimlessly and distracted, living life as though our lives were endless, what would we do and what would we say with the time we had left? Peter and Paul knowing this, directed their words well in warning those they loved and directing them to the anchor of the Word of God. Don't you think this should be our example, since we really don't know when we will breathe our last?