sacred sabbaths: add to your faith

Oct 30, 2010

I have a painting in my home called Add To Your Faith by Walter Rane. He is my favorite artist. He speaks to my soul. His art connects to me in a way that art rarely does.

This painting sits on the wall at the bottom of our stairs on the way to our school room. It sits there intentionally to remind me of the proper order of things.

Tonight at a church meeting I was reminded again how much I love 2 Peter.

Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindess charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I have often been drawn to knowledge above all else. I love learning. I love research. I love to prove things. I love being right. I love knowing things.

But Peter says knowledge is third. Faith is first. Virtue is second. Faith and virtue are so hard, while knowledge is so easy. At least for me.

So I placed my painting where I would see it every day on our way downstairs to study and learn and grow together. I want to remind myself every single day that the development of faith is of utmost importance. I need to give all diligence to the sacred work of growing in faith. Of believing in things which are not seen. On developing the power of faith in my life. Of nurturing faith in my children. I need to be reminded because I am weak. I am drawn to other things. I have some silly notion that I can actually think my way right back to heaven. Peter reminds me that I cannot and that some other things are far more important.

Now reread Peter’s words again. Slowly.

He says grace and peace are multiplied through our knowledge of God and of Jesus.

I need grace and peace desperately. The mountain of stress, fear, anxiety, and burdens is greater than I can handle. I’m sure it is greater than anyone can handle. Tonight this verse said to me that as my knowledge of my Heavenly Father and His Son increases, my grace and peace will be multiplied. I must spend more time on my knees in prayer speaking to Him. I must immerse myself in God’s word that I may come to know them better.

In verse three it says He hath called us to glory and virtue. I am called. You are called. We are called to glory and virtue! Called by God to glory! What an immense and amazing blessing.

In verse four we are given precious blessings, blessings that I need in abundance. We are promised to be partakers of the divine nature. What is the divine nature? It is God. He is divine. The way to be partakers of that divine nature is by coming to know Him, building faith in Him, adding to that virtue, then knowledge, then temperance, then patience, then godliness, then brotherly kindness, then charity.

Then, THEN, we will not be barren or unfruitful in our knowledge of Christ because we will know Jesus is the Christ and we will know Jesus the Christ.

I love 2 Peter. I love Peter all the time actually, in whatever letter he is writing. I love his boldness and his steadfastness and his faith and his courage and his humility and his great love for the body of Christ that he helped nurture and build. Can you imagine being Peter? Being one of the few followers of Jesus and given the mandate to spread His words to all the world and to strengthen the church and to calm confusion over Christ’s words and to travel in less than stellar conditions and to be in charge of the whole shebang?

And I sometimes think my life is daunting?

I needed Peter’s reminder tonight.

I still don’t know what to do about our vehicle situation, but I poured my heart out to God and cried and it felt really good to trust that He knows what is needed and He will show us the way.