Be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless. – 2 Peter 3:17 (2 Peter 3:14-18)
Since we be looking forward ter tha coming of tha Son with eagerness, make ever effort ter be found washed and cleaned and with garments that not be soiled. Make it yer mark ter be blameless and at peace with tha Son so he don’ ‘ave ter call ya out on account of some offenses ya committed. Tha Son’s patience means more time fer folks ter repent and be rescued.
Peter warns ’bout how tha Apostle Paul wrote ter folks ‘bout wicked behavior. Ter be sure, Peter admits, Paul’s letters contain some hard things ter understand and do. Because ignorant and unstable fellers distort Paul’s writings, as they do other parts of Skipper’s Code of Conduct, it ‘ill lead ter thar own destruction.
Be on guard against such fellers so that ya and yer youngins may not get carried away by this wicked pack of reprobates. Think on tha yarn below these words fer a bit.
In tha dark of early morning near the broad Matla River, villagers follow tiger tracks towards the forest. All be quiet. From within tha steaming mist shards of sunlight split tha blackness. Deer hiss and high-hop away. Monkeys scurry high up trees, their yips and hooting alerting tha posse ter tha presense ahead. Clearing a slight rise, fellers peer down onto the jungle floor. There tha tiger carries tha limp body of a child in its mouth. Jaws synched tight, fangs impaled in ter tha young child’s torso. Specs of blood marks tha beast’s early dawn trek away from tha village in in ter tha jungle. In this province tha tiger be protected. Tha tiger be sacred. Tha life of tha tiger be of more value than tha life of village children.
Like this yarn, Peter warns that sinful fellers may look harmless as a tiger cub, but when fully grown they ‘ill carry away our youth. Drag ‘em away from tha threshold of our homes and in ter tha jungle of darkness. Be on guard. Make it yer task not ter fall from yer position or be distracted from yer watch. Keep yer self, flock, family, and youngins away from tha jungle of sin whar tha devil prowls about seeking ter snatch away all he kin.
Grow in grace, yes. Give ever feller and lass tha opportunity ter repent, yes. Encourage folks in tha ways of Skipper.
But also take ter heart Skip’s warnings regarding tha lawless fellers who be roaming about and leading our youth ter thar death.