NT Fire Starters – Day 330: 2 Peter 2:1-22

READ: 2 Peter 2:1-22

THINK: What do you love to do? What excites and motivates you? What do you look forward to more than anything else? Consider this: whatever excites you the most is likely to control you the most. As this passage points out, a person “is a slave to whatever has mastered him” (2:19). Is your relationship with God the controlling influence in your life? Is devotion to Him your ultimate priority? People who haven’t given God control of their lives are enslaved by their own desires. But if God’s highest purposes are your greatest passion, you’re free to be all He created you to be.

RESPOND: Why does the Bible warn us about false teachers in the church? (See 2:1 first note.) What do they do, and what is among their most serious offenses? (See 2:1 second note.) What will happen as a result of people following their shameful ways? (See 2:2 note.) How can this affect efforts to spread Jesus’ message? What kind of “stories” do the false teachers make up? (See 2:3 note.) What is their motivation for ministry? What angels were sent to hell and put into “gloomy dungeons”? (See 2:4 note.) In what way are God’s past judgments an example to us (v. 6)? What encouragement can we take from what happened to Noah’s family and to Lot (vv. 5, 7, 9)? What can we learn from Lot’s distress and faithfulness while he was in Sodom? (See 2:8 and 2:9 notes.) Why will false teachers experience certain judgment? (See 2:10 note.) What are “bold and arrogant” and ungodly people not afraid to do, and what will happen to them (vv. 10-14, 17-18)? (See 2:10 and 2:14 notes.) In what way do people today fit the description in this passage? Why do some people think they are free, while they are really “slaves of depravity”? (See 2:19 note.) What do you think it means that “a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him” (v. 19)? Why are people who have known Jesus but then turned their backs on Him worse off than if they had never known the truth in the first place? (See 2:20 note.)

PRAY: Pray for discernment and wisdom to recognize and avoid deception that could compromise your devotion to God and His Word. Give God thanks for providing protection and rescue from the world’s corrupt influence. Pray that you would never be mastered by ungodly behavior or desires, but that God would always have control of your life.

ACT: Take special notice today of things in your life–your schedule, your activities, your priorities–that seem to control or “master” you. Do these things honor God? Are they His priorities for your life? Is He the Master of your plans and purposes. If not make the changes necessary to give Him complete control of your life.