2 Peter 3:11-14

"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 hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless."
2 Peter 3:11-14


This is an excellent question.  … since we know that the earth is going to melt away (basically... not trying to be negative or anything)  ... what manner of people should we be?  What should we be focusing on?  Probably not the melted pieces.  Perhaps the few things that last after this life is over, after this earth is gone... building healthy relationships with people.  Learning all that we can.  Happiness, peace.  ... as Tracy Chapman says, "All you have is your soul."  Instead of focusing on earthly rewards... which are apparently going to be liquefied... we can focus on things that won't melt. :)  Of course... that doesn't mean that we can encourage the melt-down.  We have to do all that we can to build other people up, to respect them, to love them.  No flame-throwers.  I think God can handle that part all by himself.  But we *should* take some time and put earthly things into perspective.  Melted stuff just, frankly, isn’t as cool as God’s stuff.  The last part I think is where we can do some work.  Let’s be diligent today, to be at peace, to be without spot… to be blameless.  As we go through the refiner’s fire, let’s make sure that something inside of us is heat-resistant… pure enough to last, even after everything else has been burned away.  And then we can look forward to the “new heavens and a new earth” … where righteousness dwells.  I don’t really know if I am going to like the “be dissolved” part, but the dwelling together in righteousness part sounds pretty great. :)