“But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” – 2 Peter 3:8-9
Peter warned the brethren that scoffers would come in the last days and say, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation” (3:4). These people will mock God, forgetting that He had already destroyed the earth with a universal flood (cf. 3:6).
People are still mocking God today. Some explicitly state that God is not coming again, or that he forgot. Some express their idea of God’s slackness through actions. It is sad to say that some Christians participate in this mockery.
After describing the day of the Lord, Peter tells the brethren, “Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 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” (3:11-12). Instead of waiting for the day of the Lord in “holy conduct and godliness,” it seems as though some do the opposite. The Lord is not longsuffering toward us so we can enjoy the pleasures of sin a little longer. It is the exact opposite! He is longsuffering toward us so we have time to repent before He comes again! Peter, through inspiration, says, “the longsuffering of the Lord is salvation” (3:15). He is giving us time to make our lives right with Him.
When we continue in sin with the subliminal idea that God isn’t going to come anytime soon, we mock Him. Christians are supposed to be the salt of the earth (cf. Matthew 5:13), spreading the message to repent before it is too late. It is silly to expect someone to listen to us when we are participating in sin because we have plenty of time to stop. “The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night” (3:10). There is going to be a day when several people are thinking, “He is probably not coming today. I can afford to have a night out on the town.” Then when they least expect it, the Lord will come. There will be no second chance. There will be plenty of regret and sorrow.
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God” (Romans 14:11). Those who were ready will have a smile on their faces, looking forward to seeing the “new heavens and (the) new earth” (3:13). Before they know it, those who thought they had plenty of time to change will be bowing before almighty God. How terrible it will be to experience the presence of the Lord, only for Him to say, “depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23). “These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:9). Do not count His longsuffering as slackness. REPENT or PERISH!