On the one hand I advise you and encourage you and charge you to seek after the kingdom. But on the other hand I want to share with you that the wonderful way for you to enter into the kingdom is by developing all the items within you step by step (2 Pet. 1:5-11). By this kind of development Peter says that we will have a rich entrance into the eternal kingdom of Christ. The way to enter into the kingdom is to grow in life. I like this term, "an entrance...abundantly." This means a rich entrance into the eternal kingdom. It is not that we can simply walk into the kingdom. We must grow and develop into the kingdom. The secret of entering into the kingdom is simply to grow in life. The seed of life is already within us. We simply must develop something with this life seed. We all have a wonderful life seed within us. But we need to grow and develop something with this seed. We enter the kingdom day by day by the growth of the inner life.
Don't consider that you can pray and fast for three days and nights and that will enable you to enter into the kingdom. No, that is not the divine economy. That is not the proper way. The proper way is that since the day you believed in the Lord Jesus, you received a little seed sown into you. Actually there is no need for you to grow so fast. Just be happy with the Lord and thank Him. Go to the Lord and thank and praise Him. Open yourself to the Lord. Thank the Lord that He has sown Himself into you and that He is growing and spreading within you. The way of the Lord is the way of life, and the way of life is so simple. If you sow a carnation seed into the ground, you do not need to pray and fast. You simply need to sow the seed properly and then go home and rest. Occasionally, you need to come and water the seed. It will grow without your effort. To enter into the kingdom we simply need to grow in life and grow in grace.
Now let us read 2 Peter 3:11-12: "Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hastening (lit.) the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?" The more we seek after the kingdom by growing in life, the more we hasten the coming of the day of the Lord. Surely the speed of His coming depends upon the speed of our growth; it depends upon our seeking. If we don't seek, and we don't grow, His coming is delayed. We may pray for the Lord to come quickly, but He may say to us, "Grow quickly." There is no problem from His side; the problem is on our side. Surely the Lord Jesus would be happy if we would grow quickly. He is ready, but we are not ready. Where among all the Christians today can you see the growth in life? You can find mission work, church organization, speaking in tongues, and Bible teachings. You can find people seeking power, miracles, and healing, but where is the growth in life? Some Christians who have been saved for twenty years have not changed any at all; they have no growth in life.
May the Lord be gracious to grant us the growth in life for His coming back. Our growth in life will speed His coming back. How quickly He comes back depends on our growth. How can we hasten His coming? By being godly and having the reality of godliness. The proper godliness is just the development of the inner life. The more we develop something in our inner life, the more we are godly. The more godliness we can express, the more we will hasten the Lord's coming.