There is a difference between hearing about something and being invited to it. One you watch from the outside. The other has your name on it.
When I was young in business, I rarely felt like I belonged in the room. I could be sitting right at the table and still feel like somebody was about to figure out I had talked my way in.
That feeling of being an imposter, of not quite measuring up to the room you’re in, is real. And it’s human.
But here’s what gets me: the invitation went out anyway. Not to the qualified. Not to those who’d already earned their seat. To us.
Watch this week’s devotional
The best invitation ever
In 2 Peter 1:3-4, Peter describes how fortunate we are as Christian believers:
Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you—your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust.
Peter says that in Jesus Christ, we have been given everything we need and want to live a life that pleases God. He doesn’t mince words: it is miraculous.
We have been given:
- The best invitation we could ever receive
- The opportunity to know Jesus Christ personally and intimately
- Life-changing promises that transform everything
More than an invitation
And the good news keeps going. With this incredible invitation to know and experience Jesus Christ, we have been given promises that are your tickets to participate in the life of God.
So what is this life of God?
Scripture tells us. Our future includes:
- A brand new life with everything to live for
- Eternal life
- A life in heaven
- Every tear wiped from our eyes
- No darkness of night
- No curse of sin
- Death will be no more
- The redeemed worshipping and rejoicing in the eternal presence of God and Jesus Christ
What an invitation. What promises. What a ticket.
The free part
The best part? It is all free because of Jesus Christ.
All you have to do is ask Him.
This week, let’s stop living like we’re on the outside looking in. The invitation already has our name on it. All we have to do is say yes.
Questions about 2 Peter 1:3-4
What does 2 Peter 1:3-4 mean?
Peter is telling believers that by knowing Jesus personally, God has already given us everything we need to live a life that pleases Him. He also gives us promises that let us share in the life of God. In The Message, Peter calls it “the best invitation we ever received.”
What are the promises in 2 Peter 1:4?
Peter calls them our tickets to participation in the life of God: a brand new life, eternal life, and a future where every tear is wiped away and death is no more.
Do I have to earn God’s invitation?
No. The invitation went out to people who had not earned a seat at the table. It is free because of Jesus Christ, and all you have to do is ask Him.
Last week’s devotional, Grace for the Flawed and Messy, opens 2 Peter right before these verses. And if that imposter feeling sounds familiar, We Are Called Children of God is a good next read.
Pass on the Good News. Now that’s BombDiggity!
#FarmSunday #Devotional #2Peter #TheBestInvitation
Scripture quotation taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
Written by
Lane and Jules Morris
Authors and University of Tennessee faculty writing from our farm in East Tennessee about gardening, the farm kitchen, faith and designing a flourishing life at any age. More about us
