2 Peter 3:9 says that “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
While this verse emphasizes how longsuffering God is, the very next verse teaches that “the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” (verse 10).
Though God is longsuffering, the Day of Judgment will come, and it could come at any moment. At that time, every person who has ever lived will be judged (2 Cor. 5:10).
A key lesson this teaches us is that we must take advantage of the opportunity to be right with God now. If we continually put off what God requires of us for “some other time,” there will soon not be “some other time.”
The Bible gives examples of people who failed to obey God when they had the chance, and regretted this when it was too late.
Take, for instance, the rich man of Luke 16:19-31. This rich man had opportunities to please God, but he chose not to. After the rich man died, he was “in torment” (verse 23), and wished for relief, but he was told that it was too late (verse 24-26). At that point, the (formerly) rich man could only wish he had behaved differently when he had the chance.
In Matthew 25:1-13, Jesus spoke the parable of the ten virgins. While five of the virgins were prepared when the bridegroom came, the other five were not. Those who were unprepared were not able to enter the wedding feast (verses 10-12).
The lesson of the parable was given by Jesus in verse 13: Watch therefore, for you don’t know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. We will be proven foolish if we fail to prepare for that time.
Despite these truths, many choose to delay obedience to God. Like Felix in Acts 24:25, many don’t want to commit to what is needed for salvation, and thus decide to put it off until a time “when it is convenient.”
God’s Word does not speak of Felix ever obeying. Scripture does, though, show us the kind of attitude that leads one to make his or her life right with God. It is an attitude that prioritizes obeying God in such a way that leaves no room for procrastinating submission to Him.
Whether one has not been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38), or one has been but has since allowed something to come between him or her and God, there is no better time to make things right than the present.
As the inspired apostle told the Corinthians, “Behold, now is the acceptable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).
Everyone who is reading this still has the opportunity to come to God and receive salvation on the terms He offers. We still have the chance to escape the punishment faced by the rich man in Luke 16:19-31.
We don’t know how long this opportunity will last, though. Life has much uncertainty (James 4:13-15), and none of us can predict the specific time that the Lord will return.
May we thus choose to be ready at all times, starting now. “Behold, now is the acceptable time” to obey God.
– Michael Hickox