Verse of the Day for April 29

Peter's second letter ends with a single instruction, and it is the last thing he wrote.

But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Grow is the verb, and growth is not something anybody does by deciding to. A person can create conditions for it and cannot perform it.

In grace is where the growing happens. Not toward grace, as though it were the goal — inside it, as the medium.

Which rules out the most common form of Christian striving: attempting to grow in order to be accepted. Peter has the acceptance as the soil rather than the harvest.

And the verse before warns about being led away with the error of the wicked and falling from your own stedfastness, which tells you what the alternative to growing is. Not staying still. Drifting.

Growth cannot be forced and can be starved. Most of what you can do about it is about conditions.

The alternative to growing is not standing still. Peter says it is being led away.