Devotional 7 October 2025

October 07, 2025 • Steve Torres

2 Peter 3:14.jpg

“Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.” (2 Peter 3:14, ESV)

Peter’s words hold a tension that defines the Christian life: “Since you are waiting… be diligent.” Waiting implies patience and trust, but diligence demands effort and focus. Together they describe the rhythm of faith: restful hope joined with purposeful living.

Earlier in his letter, Peter urged believers to “make every effort” to supplement their faith with virtue and steadfastness (2 Peter 1:5–10). Here he returns to that call, but in light of the end. Since “the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved” (3:12), our hope must be detached from the temporary. We labor not to preserve this fading world, but to reflect the holiness of the new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells (3:13).

This diligence is not a frantic striving for acceptance, for we are already reconciled to God through Christ. “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). The peace Peter mentions is not mere calm, it is the wholeness that comes from belonging to God. We work from peace, not toward it.

To be “without spot or blemish” recalls both the purity of the sacrificial lamb (1 Peter 1:19) and the goal of Christ’s redeeming work, to “present the Church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle” (Ephesians 5:27). As Christ was the unblemished offering, so His people are called to live as those purified by His blood.

Peter’s call also guards us from complacency. The angels rebuked the disciples after the ascension: “Why do you stand looking into heaven?” (Acts 1:11). The same Lord who was taken up will return, but in the meantime His followers are to go, labor, and proclaim. Our waiting is active: charged with holy purpose.

Unlike the false teachers who “promise freedom” yet are “slaves of corruption” (2 Peter 2:19), believers live as those truly free. Our freedom is not license, but liberation from sin to righteousness (Romans 6:18). We work because Christ has worked for us. As Paul writes, “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Ephesians 2:10).

Therefore, as we await the Lord’s appearing, let us be diligent, not anxious or idle, but steadfast, holy, and at peace. Our labor is not in vain, for the One who called us is faithful.