Pilgrims' Progress, conclusion

Today we are finishing up our study of these verses:

Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. (I Peter 2:11-12)

In some translations, the latter half of verse twelve refers to a "day of visitation." I was puzzled over what day Peter was talking about here....It could be God's visitation in saving the pagan people that he referred to. Or perhaps it refers to the future day of judgment.
The commentaries that I consulted were split. Some thought that it meant the unbelievers who slandered and persecuted Christians will glorify God when they get saved, after observing the good words and good deeds in the lives of believers. That the lifestyle we live out will be appealing, and they will want to know about the "hope within us," and then they will experience a saving faith themselves and glorify Him.
Other commentaries didn't interpret it that way. Yesterday we noted that we are not guaranteed that unbelievers will come quickly to Christ because of our witness. Sometimes it takes years of witnessing in words and deeds before folks will be saved. And Peter himself says that many will face God's judgment, in I Peter 4:

But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. (verse 5)For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? (verse 17)

So, this makes me think that Peter is saying that God will vindicate and even commend believers' righteous behavior, while others are judged for their not-so-righteous behavior. This made me conclude that the day of visitation refers to the future day of judgment for all humankind. Y'all can feel free to chime in here, though, cos I know I'm not always correct!
If it is a future day of judgment, how will unbelievers glorify God in that day? Now, some will be converted before that day happens. Humanly speaking, they will have paid attention to the good witness of the Christians that they scorned, and will be saved. Then they will glorify God for His saving grace and His faithfulness.
Others will stand before Him on that day unsaved. All of the excuses they had when they were living on earth, and every bit of their rebellion will have been pulled away like a rug pulled out from under their feet.  Then even their knees will bow, and they will join in the confession that Jesus is Lord:

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,    in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,    to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:10-11)

For us as believers, it's important to keep that great day of visitation in our minds. We live our lives here on earth, as pilgrims, knowing that one day everyone must stand before God -- either for commendation or for condemnation. Oh, how we should be motivated! We should try to live so that we will hear, "Well done!" And we should try to persuade those who are still unbelievers, to receive His mercy before it is too late.

One thing is for sure..... it is very easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of this world; it's easy to be swept along in a culture where living for one's self is the norm. Without trying, and sometimes without realizing it, we begin to pursue personal pleasure and affluence as our goals. Wouldn't it be nice to have a bigger house? A newer car? A boat to go out on the lake? New clothes to wow everyone?  Oh, yes, and we'll give a little more to the church....and we'll get involved if we have the time.....
A couple hundred years ago, a preacher named Jonathan Edwards wrote this:

God is the highest good of the reasonable creature; and the enjoyment of him is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied.-- To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows; but the enjoyment of God is the substance. These are but scattered beams; but God is the sun. These are but streams; but God is the fountain. These are but drops; but God is the ocean.-- Therefore it becomes us to spend this life only as a journey towards heaven, as it becomes us to make the seeking of our highest end and proper good, the whole work of our lives; to which we should subordinate all other concerns of life. Why should we labor for, or set our hearts on, any thing else, but that which is our proper end, and true happiness?

God is calling all of us to a pilgrim life. A life where we will pursue Him and the enjoyment of all that He is. Not living for the pleasures of this world, or for our own fulfillment. We will find that it's the only way to true self-fulfillment..... Jesus told us the key: if we seek our life, we will lose it, but if we lose our life for His sake, we will have found true life!!