”Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast – 1 Cor. 15:58)

“You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness.” – 2 Peter 3:17, NASB

Recently, I saw a photo that was circulating on social media. It was of a leopard carrying a dead monkey its mouth with a little baby monkey still clinging tightly onto its lifeless mother’s chest.

Instinctively, baby monkeys start holding onto their mother’s chest as soon as they are born.

It’s the baby monkey’s way of being carried around safely as Mother Monkey jumps from branch to branch in the trees, as it suckles a breast at the same time.

It’s virtually impossible for the baby monkey to let go.

That rather depressing picture was the perfect illustration of spiritual steadfastness.

We all love it when our loved ones, friends and colleagues are steadfast in our relationships with them.

We want them to remain resolutely consistent, dependable and predictable whatever the situation or circumstance.   

In our meditation today, believers are being admonished not to slide from their steadfastness in the face of false teachers, backslidden preachers and hard times.

The Greek word for ‘steadfastness’ denotes being immovable from a fixed position. 

Evidently, Peter wrote this short epistle to tackle an intractable situation in the Church – materialistic preachers who were peddling their own propaganda and falsehoods that contradicted the truth that the apostles had taught.

Reports of the false teaching infiltrating the Church had reached the apostle Peter, so he dispatched this epistle to warn them of the serious dangers they faced and to urge them to be alert lest they fall away from their own steadfastness through the influence of the false teachings.

The Greek word for ‘steadfastness’ in this context denotes being immovable from a fixed position. 

The Amplified Version of the Bible describes the “unprincipled men” as those “who distort doctrine.”

Indeed, we surely don’t have a shortage of “errors” and “distortions” by incorrigible preachers today.  

Peter particularly singled out preachers who had started well but had “forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam” – the Old Testament prophet who sacrificed his prophetic gift on the altar of monetary gain and wealth (2 Peter 2:15; Numbers 22-24).

From Peter’s perspective, materialistic and sensual preachers were a bigger danger to the Church of Christ than even the heathen demon worshipers, persecution and hardship.

As Christ’s followers, we are required to be vigilant and to hold on tightly to the truth of God’s Word lest we “fall away from our steadfastness” amidst the erroneous teachings.

Prayer

Almighty God, thank you for the truth of your Word. Help me to be hold onto it and to spiritually awake and vigilant so that I am not moved by every wind of doctrine. For the glory of your name, Amen!