Looking, hastening, and discerning

Ready to get to work?

what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? (II Peter 3:11b-12)

I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that the life of a believer is one of passivity, ease, and leisure, have you? (Grin) Peter sure doesn't think so! The verb he uses here is "prosdokao," and it carries with it the meaning of expectantly waiting, of watching, of looking for something.
Sitting back and relaxing?
Nope!
We have two very good examples of what we should avoid.....Jesus told a parable of young women waiting for the bridegroom to arrive at a wedding celebration.

 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. (Matthew 25:1-13)

Back in the days of the disciples and our Lord, the bride and her bridesmaids would await the arrival of the bridegroom, and then a procession of revelers with lamps would make their way to the feast. It was important to have lamps ready for the procession -- the ones called "foolish" were not prepared for the festivities. If they'd been prepared, they would have been able to join in and not be locked out of the fun. How to apply this to our lives? Well, if we don't make room for Christ, and if we are not prepared for His return, we won't be able to rush out and take care of it at the last minute. His gift of salvation must be accepted, and then we must be expectantly looking for His return.

Another example?

40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” Matthew 26:40-46)

In Mark 13, we see Jesus' instructions, too...."Watch!" The same word is used there and in Matthew. Are we just going about our everyday lives, casually, without thoughts of His return? Or does each day's dawning see you climbing out of bed with the thought that "this could be the day!" Are we excited? When we glance at the sky, does the thought sometimes pop into our heads? Does it never make it to our thoughts? Are we secure in the fact that we're prepared, and eagerly anticipating His return?
There's a big difference between waiting and watching!

The next thing Peter says is to not only be looking, but to be "hastening."
What?
Well, as I live and breathe, as grandma used to say when she was surprised.
The root of this word means to "hurry by means of extra effort." Whoaaaaa, there, pardner, I don't reckon we have much to do with when He comes back!
Well, it's true that God has foreordained the day of Jesus Christ's return:

For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead. (Acts 17:31)

So, from a divine perspective, there's nothing we can do to "hasten" that day.
However, from a human perspective, there are things that we should do in eager anticipation, which in a sense will hasten that day's arrival. First, we should pray that God's kingdom will come. We find this in Matthew 6, and in Luke:

He said to them, “When you pray, say:“‘Father,hallowed be your name,your kingdom come. (Luke 11:2)

Just as John prayed in Revelation 22, we are to pray, "Come, Lord Jesus!"
Secondly, we are to practice sharing the gospel with others, and to support those who seek to reach people in places close and far away.

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:14)

Don't forget, on top of these things, we maintain godliness and holiness. That means to keep a deep and rich intimacy with our Creator, and conduct ourselves as those who've been set apart for Him. We will repent when we fail, confess to the Lord, and then trust that we're covered by the blood of Christ. We will diligently seek to be both wise and innocent (Matthew 10:16).
To put a long story short, as grandma would say, we are to be maturing as believers, and growing in discernment.
Discernment? Yep, we studied that a while back.
That's a word that means rolling up our sleeves and working, too!
It's more than just pointing out what is right or wrong. It has to do with wisdom, too, and ferreting out the reasons and motives for things. To know when something is of God, and when it's not.

There are actually some drawbacks to being a discerning believer.

For one thing, we just alluded to the fact that it requires consistent work. We must know and apply God's truth; this takes time, energy, and much study.
For another thing, we will find ourselves in opposition to others at times. Some will be innocently misguided, or ignorant of the scriptures. We may be able to gently persuade them. Others will be offtrack and take umbrage to our humble presentation of the truth as the Spirit has guided us. Not everyone will be happy with the things we say.
Another drawback is that we may become overzealous. We might lose sight of the fact that some particulars of belief are not necessarily binding on others -- some practices may be objectionable to us even though they are not forbidden by the Bible. Others may be just as conscientious about study but not subscribe to the belief that we espouse.  We must always be on our guard and avoid being strident -- we must be loving in our passion for truth.

Yes, we have work ahead of us.
No sitting and waiting!
We need to eagerly look for His return, to hasten it by praying and sharing the gospel, to be holy, godly, and discerning.

Lord, help us to be active and diligent in preparing for your return!