2 Peter 1:10-11 “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble….”
When your cable company keeps you on hold, you get angry. When you get angry, you go blow off steam. When you go blow off steam, accidents happen. When accidents happen, you get an eye patch. When you get an eye patch, people think you’re tough. When people think you’re tough, people want to see how tough. And when people want to see how tough, you wake up in a roadside ditch. Don’t wake up in a roadside ditch. Get rid of cable and upgrade to Direct TV.
I often use this Direct TV commercial to illustrate a rhetorical device known as an “anadiplosis” for my public speaking students. The last word of a sentence or phrase is repeated in the first word of the next phrase or sentence to show how one thing leads to another. I think there’s something like a “divine anadiplosis” at work in the process of making our calling as God’s children certain.
In his second letter to the church, Peter knows troubled times lie on the horizon and he wants believers to be ready, to remain steadfast no matter what happens around them. In 2 Peter 1:3-9 he makes his case something like this:
When we believe God has given us everything we need for life and godliness, we will make every effort to add goodness to our faith….When we add goodness to our faith, we increase our knowledge of Jesus (who is goodness)….When we increase our knowledge of Jesus, we become more like him….When we become more like him, we participate in the divine nature….When we participate in the divine nature, our calling will be made certain…Certainty of our call will keep us from falling.
Peter’s exhortation to the church remains as relevant today as it was 2000 years ago. The world is changing at lightning speed and followers of Christ must to be ready to meet the ominous challenges ahead with unshakeable confidence. Today’s priorities become tomorrow’s reality.
So make your call certain today while you can. Believe in God’s provision. Pursue his virtues. Embrace who he has intended you to be. Don’t wake up in something far worse than a roadside ditch.