God’s Word promises us many things.  This portion of scripture here says that by the exceedingly great and precious promises that have been give to us we may escape the corruption in the world and be partakers of the divine nature.

It’s by His promises that this happens.  How can a promise do all that?

I know of someone who was making a particular mistake on the job over and over again.   It was causing a lot of problems.  He was reminded several times the correct way to do it but nevertheless continued to make the same mistake.  Finally, he was advised that if he quit making that mistake someone would bake him cookies. What happened?   The next time, he did it right.

It was just a promise of cookies.  He didn’t have any cookies yet, but was promised cookies.  And in the end, he enjoyed the cookies.  God’s Word promises us many things.  His promises are powerful.  By His promises we become partakers of His nature.

His promises are wonderful and awesome but I think He would like us to do what the Word of God says to do and living according to it not just for the blessing but because it pleases Him.  God loves to pour out His blessings on His children, but if our motivation is just for the blessing, or the promise of a blessing, what kind of relationship do we have with Him?  What if every time this person on the job did the job right he demanded cookies?

God’s blessings and promises teach us of His great love for us and in response to His love, we can live and do the right thing according to the Word of God and not ‘keep tabs’ on how much He ‘owes’ us.  He never had to promise us anything.  He didn’t have to make any sort of promises to us.  But He did because He loves us and we enjoy righteousness as a result.