What manner of persons?

I woke up this morning feeling another sermon coming on and the following text in my head. 2 Peter 3:11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12 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? I feel very strongly that Jesus is coming back very very soon, but even if He wasn't our days on this earth are short and unknown.  A terminal illness like my dad had or an accident of some sort and our lives are gone, in an instant. A friend of mine was given a dream which reminded me of the history of God's church.  In the beginning, when the apostles were going out preaching, the people and the gospel that was preached were more pure.  Over time since compromise has crept in the people of God, us, have become less and less pure.  Sometimes I think that we say the word, Laodicea and wear it like it is some sort of badge of honor. We don't think that Revelation 3:17 "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:" applies to us personally, just to the church at large.  Well I have news for you, and by you I mean me, as well as us as individuals, I am laodicea, You are laodicea.  Laodicea is not the building or even the organization as a whole(although that is true in part), we, as individuals make up the "organization". I am also reminded of the parable of the ten sleeping virgins.  We are them as well. Sound asleep.  So, let's imagine for a moment that we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that we only had a year or less left to live.(whether that was by the fact that Jesus was definitely coming back or that we were given some terminal illness)  If you knew that, then what would your day look like today? Or next week? I am reminded of this text in Genesis 35:2 "Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: 3 And let us arise, and go up to Beth–el; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. 4 And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem."  We need to be preparing our hearts now.  We need to be  Hebrews 12:1 (KJV) "laying aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,"  I am reminded about this story from EGW vision as recorded here: http://www.whiteestate.org/sop/2000/story.html "The road got narrower and narrower so they had to leave their wagons because there was not room enough for them. Some of the people tied their luggage on the horses and rode the horses. The path kept getting more narrow, so the people were all crowded near the wall. When their luggage hit it they would sway toward the edge. They were afraid they would fall off the edge, so they cut the luggage from the horses and it fell off the side. When the road became so narrow that they were afraid they would lose their balance, they got off the horses. Finally they left their horses behind and followed each other, walking in each other's footsteps. Just then small white ropes came down the wall and they grabbed them to keep their balance. The ropes moved as they moved. Finally the path became so narrow that they had to take off their shoes and stockings. Even then it was difficult to stay on the narrow and dangerous path."  The time is now to leave all the "luggage" behind, and hold onto the ropes.  There is no further need for the things of this world. We need to be putting behind us those things which are standing in between us and God. TV, movies, shopping, finding different ways to amuse ourselves.  We need to be doing everything that we can to win as many souls to Jesus as possible, starting with our families and working our way outward. To our neighbors and our cities or the area we live, work and go to church in!  We need to wake up! We need to be looking only at,  Philippians 4:8 (KJV) "whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."  While I'm on the subject, Genesis 35:4 quoted above indicates that not only do people need to put away the foreign gods but also their jewelry.  God calls us to a purity and holiness, which are absent of these things.  There is nothing in this world that we can take with us. The only thing that we can hope to accomplish in this life is to plant as many seeds as we can for the Holy Spirit to water, aka tell people about Jesus and what He means to us. It is  Romans 13:11 (KJV) "high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed."