If only I'd have done _____

To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. (2 Peter 1:1-2)

Have you ever looked back on your life and said something like, "If only I'd have done _____ , I'd be far better off today."

I know early on in our marriage (1983), I looked at interest rates, our pay, and asked, "How are we going to make it?" Interest rates you ask? Around 17.5% if I remember correctly. Our pay? Around $28,000 (married filing jointly). I looked at my dad's house and looked at his interest rate, and I thought to myself, "If only I'd lived back at that time...." 

Peter is stating something to the people of faith to whom he is, in a large sense, responsible for, and he is saying something profound in this introduction. "To those of you who wish you'd been around to see Christ because you believe our faith is more valid or stronger because we saw him, let me tell you this: Yours is equal to mine and the apostles/those who lived to see and hear and talk to Jesus." Mind-blown!

Remember Jesus and Thomas in John 20:29: Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

I suppose we need to hear this from time-to-time. Tim Keller speaks of those who were with Christ after he had risen in Matthew 28 and notes that Matthew recorded this: "When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted." (v 17) Keller notes that though the apostles ended up as great leaders of the church, sharing the Word of Christ to the ends of the earth as they knew it, yet some still had trouble believing or processing all that was before him. ("Go Forward in Love: A Year of Daily Readings from Tim Keller." 2026 - Kindle Edition)

We have trouble processing faith from time-to-time. If only God would reveal himself to me physically, through divine intervention (show himself or better, perform a miracle in my life), I'd be like the early believers who knew him or saw him in action. Peter tells us our faith is just as valid as theirs. That is powerful, too powerful to absorb in many ways. Again, mind-blown.

Pray with me: Gracious Father, Give me the faith I need daily to hear you and follow you. Feed me my daily bread through your Word. Quench my thirst and provide me with wisdom to know you more clearly. In Christ's name, Amen