2 Peter 3:8-15: An Eternity Not So Jarring

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. - 2 Peter 3:8-15

What do you really want to last? Because that is what is going with you into eternity. There are none of us who will bring one asset or accomplishment into eternity. We only bring ourselves.  "Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you be?"

But will we like that? I am not always sure that I would like living with myself for eternity. I'm not sure that other people would like to live with me for eternity. How is it that Jesus can offer no regret? I can see many gaps, not just in resume but in my character, which I wish were smoothed over like spackle over holes in my wall. Some of eternity will be spent, I think, in comparing the choices I made and  comparing them with the goodness of God. Even with the redeemed character of Christ living in me, there will be a dissonance and some time for resolution.

Maybe that is why the Bible reminds us to "make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him." We will enjoy forever better if the dissonance is not so jarring, where the fulness of the grace of God doesn't shock when it is revealed because we have been living with it here on earth.