“Waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God,” – 2 Peter 3:12a 

Scripture reading: Acts 17:31

Hastening means ‘to hurry’ or ‘to speed up.’ Picture a time when Mum or Dad announced a family trip to the park when the lounge and bedrooms were tidy. And the tidying went very slowly at first, until Dad said, “The sooner all this is tidied up, the sooner we will go!” Then everyone got really busy! This was Dad trying to hasten the time of departure, to bring it about sooner than might otherwise have been the case.

What we see in verse 12 is that pursuing holinesses and godlinesses hastens the coming of the Lord. Isn’t that striking?! If you love the Lord Jesus and desire to show your thankfulness to Him for your salvation, then every act of devotion to Him, and every effort to resist temptation, and every choice made to do what pleases your Father in heaven, hastens or speeds up the day of Christ’s return!

Now, I know what Calvinists are thinking – but isn’t God sovereign? Doesn’t everything happen according to His plan? And doesn’t Acts 17:31 say that God “has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness”? Yes. All this is true. But we cannot let that cancel out the call to pursue holinesses and godlinesses, which hasten the coming of the day of the Lord. This is one of those wonderful mysteries that we simply must affirm and celebrate. Let us heed the call to intentional Christian living.

Suggestions for prayer

Ask the Lord for an ever-deepening thankfulness for Christ’s person and work. Ask Him to cause this to lead you to a deeper obedience.

Rev. Andre Holtslag is a graduate of Mid-America Reformed Seminary in Dyer, Indiana (2007). At the present time he serves the Reformed Church of Avondale, which is in the city of Auckland, New Zealand, and is one of the Reformed Churches in New Zealand (RCNZ). Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com.