DEVOTION 2 PETER STAY ON GUARD 2 Peter 3:17-18 17 Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. NIV There it is, the whole letter in a nutshell, the completion of the idea, summed up for us so we cannot miss it. Be on our guard! There are people out there, wolves in sheep’s clothing attempting to set themselves up as spiritual leaders with masses of followers devoted to their teaching. We need to be on guard against such kind of people. We need to be able to see them for who they are. Their faith is false; it is not the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Their teaching is based on human desires, not upon the desire of God. It would appear that those who listen to them and accept their teachings have been carried away from their secure position in Christ, or do I dare say they have walked away from their salvation and are now among the lost. It is true that people can speak of God, speak of Jesus Christ, speak of religious things, even say they believe in those things, and not be born again, not be saved, not be among the body of Christ, not be a living stone in the temple of God, not be going to heaven, but in fact, will be destined for destruction. We need to be ever vigilant, ever on guard against such kinds of teachings and we can, because we have the Holy Spirit to guide us. One of his gifts is the spirit of discernment so as to be able to know and hear this false teaching and stay clear of it. Instead we should drench ourselves in the truth. We need to grow in grace, the divine influence on our heart, rather than growing in the influence of men. God, himself influences out heart, he teaches us directly, speaks right to us, and draws us closer to him. Those false teachers have human agendas, but God has a divine agenda and we need to grow in his plan. We should also grow in knowledge, always learning more about Jesus Christ, about God’s plan for us. We cannot ever be content with our once learned truth, but we should be growing daily. How could be say we know it all, we have all the answers, we have the truth and we do not need to know anymore? How can we say we are saved and that is all I need to know? If we ever start thinking like, becoming stagnant in our relationship with God, that is when we might let our guard down. The truth of the matter is we live to bring him glory and honor. Stay on guard! In the army men stand guard or watch against an enemy attack that would kill. We stand guard against the enemy who would destroy our soul. Stay on guard!