Tuesdays with Naqvi--6

Today marks the point at which I am halfway through with the first half of my chemo!  You would think I could say that I'm a quarter of the way completed, but the math doesn't quite add up.  In this case, 1/2 of 1/2 does not equal 1/4 because there are too many parts to the whole process.  Once the 12 weekly sessions are over, I transition to 4 sessions, one every 3 weeks.  Add to that, once the 6 months of chemo are complete, I still have surgery, possible radiation, and the completion of my weekly visits for Herceptin.  Even though I'm halfway through the first half of the chemo process, I still have more than halfway to travel in this journey.  How's that for some interesting math?  It's hard to have a true countdown when there are so many parts to the whole, so it's yet another example of endurance and diligence. 

It's now March, and I am moving forward with my Personal Progress to the value of Divine Nature.  The classic scripture for this value is found in 2 Peter :

"Be partakers of the divine nature...giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity {2 Peter 1: 4-7}.

What an amazing list of qualities of which we should "partake."  They are given to all of us as children of a Heavenly Father who is divine and from whom we have inherited divine qualities.  But, nothing is simply given or taken if the fullness of the blessings are to be achieved.  We must be partakers of these qualities.  To partake means to take part in or to experience something with someone else.  Partake is an action word, which implies that we must put in the work.  We must strive to develop our divine nature by adding upon our talents and continuing to become more like our Savior in order to be true partakers of the divine nature.  

I have read this passage of scripture many times before, but it's often through reading the entire chapter and the context surrounding these important passages that knowledge is increased.  As I read all of 2 Peter 1, a few things stood out about the divine qualities discussed.

First, our Father in Heaven loves us and grants us grace and peace as we show faith in him.

Verse 2: "Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord."

Grace is given to everyone, but without works, it is dead.  As we see with charity, hand-outs, and welfare in our society, when something is just taken for granted and there becomes a sense of entitlement, there is no peace.   It is when we work for something that the grace and peace of our Father in Heaven is multiplied unto us.   

Verse 3: "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:"

God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through His Son, who has called us to glory and virtue.  Our Savior, too, wants us to be like him and have glory and virtue, through our divine nature.  There are so many great things about this life that stand as witnesses of our divine creator and of the divine nature that exists in each of us as we strive to reach our true glory and virtue.

Verse 4: "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."

Through Christ, we are given some amazing promises so that we can be partakers of our divine natures.  Our Savior has led the way and asks us to follow with him.  We partake of the qualities of our divine nature in His footsteps, and to do so requires action.  When we seek the divine, we escape the corruption of the world.   

I absolutely love the list of divine qualities that follows--faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness,  and charity.  Talk about divine qualities!  That is a list of traits I would be happy to have next to my name. 

Verse 5: And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

Verse 6: And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

Verse 7: And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

These qualities take effort to acquire and perfect, and I don't know if we ever fully develop them in this lifetime.  As always, though, whenever we are given a task or commandment from our Father in Heaven, a blessing follows. 

Verse 8: For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 9: But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

Verse 10:  Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

If these qualities abound, are present in great quantities/are prevalent in us, our faith and knowledge in Jesus Christ will produce valuable results.  We will be able to see afar off and not be blinded or blocked by sins.  Our calling and election will be made sure. We will never fall.  Can there be many greater promised blessings?   

One final note.  When words or phrases are repeated in a passage of scripture, it often points to something worth noticing.  In this chapter, one word stands out to me as a key part to developing our divine nature----DILIGENCE.  We are asked to "give all diligence" and reminded again to "give diligence" in the process of becoming stronger in our divine qualities.  To be diligent means to be steady, earnest, to give energetic effort, and to endure. As we show diligence in becoming "partakers of the divine nature" God has created in each of us, He will bless us. 

We are never promised that life will be easy.  We are never told that there will not be challenges.  In fact, over and over again we are told to endure, to be submissive, to be humble, to be patient, to show temperance, to rely on our Savior and take His yoke upon us that He might help us bear up the burdens that will be placed on our shoulders.  We are promised trials and tribulations and are asked to be strong and diligent as we endure those trials.  Through trials we develop our divine qualities, and those divine qualities, in turn, help us to endure the next trials.  If we do all of these things--striving in all diligence to develop our divine qualities--there are great promises.  If we do these things, now matter what may come our way, we shall never fall.  As long as we do our part to reach our Savior, He will never let us fall.