Stay on the Road That Leads to God

2 Peter 2: 13 Their evil will boomerang on them. They're so despicable and addicted to pleasure that they indulge in wild parties, carousing in broad daylight. 14 They're obsessed with adultery, compulsive in sin, seducing every vulnerable soul they come upon. Their specialty is greed, and they're experts at it. Dead souls! 15 They've left the main road and are directionless, having taken the way of Balaam, son of Beor, the prophet who turned profiteer, a connoisseur of evil. 16 But Balaam was stopped in his wayward tracks: A dumb animal spoke in a human voice and prevented the prophet's craziness. 17 There's nothing to these people - they're dried-up fountains, storm-scattered clouds, headed for a black hole in hell. 18 They are loudmouths, full of hot air, but still they're dangerous. Men and women who have recently escaped from a deviant life are most susceptible to their brand of seduction. 19 They promise these newcomers freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, for if they're addicted to corruption - and they are - they're enslaved. 20 If they've escaped from the slum of sin by experiencing our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ, and then slid back into that same old life again, they're worse than if they had never left. 21 Better not to have started out on the straight road to God than to start out and then turn back, repudiating the experience and the holy command. 22 They prove the point of the proverbs, "A dog goes back to its own vomit," and, "A scrubbed-up pig heads for the mud." (The Message)

This is a continuation of what Peter railed again in yesterday's passage. His anger is not easily hidden. He is angry! Like a parent that teaches a child to do one thing and the child chooses to do another, such was Peter's anger at those who knew better, but now are guided by selfish passion and greed and will stop at nothing to increase their influence and their possessions. If we know The Way that leads to God and life and the fullness of life, why would we choose to deviate from that and serve only ourselves? Peter believed it was better to have not even started on that road if they were just going to get worse than when they were when they first started.

There's an interesting man in one of our churches who suffered a serious medical incident that left him changed. It left him unemployed, broke, and with no possessions, yet in a talk he and I had, he's better off now he told me. He has learned how to say "God bless you" in many languages and seeks to learn more and share more. Materialism and greed are no longer a part of his life. He aims to bless God and God's people. It made me wonder that especially during this time of year when so many focus on stuff and more stuff, do we truly know what matters most in this life? The message on the television and the commercial is to acquire more and more; the truth is to know the love of God matters most.

PRAYER: God of all things, owner of ten thousand cattle and the hills on which they graze, teach my heart about what really matters most. The Gift you shared with the world during this time of year should matter more than anything else. I pray for a spirit of gratitude and sharing in the midst of all who seek to acquire more and appreciate less. This I pray in Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

Eradio Valverde