Anticipating the end of time and the fulfillment of the promise of “new heavens and a new earth” (II Pet. 3:13), the Apostle Peter wrote, “Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless” (v. 14).  In so doing, he provokes several thoughts.

            1.  Are we looking?  “Since you look for these things,” Peter says.  Given the character of the times (a period of great persecution) and the character of saving faith (perseverance in anticipation of promised blessings), Peter assumed or knew that his readers were anticipating God’s promised end of all things.  Furthermore, historically, saints have had a view that looks beyond the temporal to the eternal.  Characteristically, those who know the Lord live for heaven not earth; eternity not time; and the permanent rather than the passing.  But what of us?  Where is our focus?  To what do we devote our time, energy, thoughts, and dreams—the hereafter or the here and now?

            2.  Christ is and will be looking.  “Be diligent to be found by Him,” Peter writes.  The Lord does and will search all hearts and hands.  We may hide what we are from casual acquaintances, from brethren, even from our spouse, but as the writer of Hebrews reminds us:  “there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do” (4:13).  Good or bad, He both knows and assesses all without mistake or failure.  A day of reckoning is approaching as certainly as the breath we are inhaling at this moment.  What will Christ find in those of us He has died to redeem?

            3.  What is Christ looking for in us?  Peace, spotlessness, blamelessness, Peter asserts.  If our hearts are fixed upon what God has in store for us, if our eyes are set upon the proper goal, namely, God’s glory both now and eternally, then we will “be diligent” (“earnest,” “zealous”) in the pursuit of three virtues.

                    a.  Peace.  Since Peter is addressing “beloved” believers, his exhortation does not involve peace with God, which God provided when we were saved.  Rather, he is speaking of the peace of God: that quiet, assured contentment that all is well between the soul and God, that we are not actively engaged in any sin, and that all known sin has been confessed and forsaken.  God can fellowship with us and we with Him because we are actively being cleansed and sanctified.

                   b.  Spotlessness.  The term “spots” is a metaphor for sins, whether of commission or omission, that rob us of peace and fellowship with God.  It speaks of the dirt and stains our sins reveal to the world; such spots dim the light of God’s glory before those to whom it should be seen.