Dear Friends,
We hope this week's devotional will encourage you in your spiritual walk.
You are welcome to share this and include in your church's newsletters if you wish; we just ask that you please give credit to NTC and the author. Thank you!
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! 4 But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; 5 for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. 6 So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; 7 for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.
Devotional Thought
Most of us don’t like being left in the dark when it comes to important information. Maybe that is why Christians have been trying to predict the ‘times and seasons’ of Christ’s second coming for nearly 2000 years. This is despite Jesus’s clear teaching that, “about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark 13:32). While we cannot know the exact date or many of the details concerning this phenomenon, our passage reminds us that we are not in darkness to be surprised by this, since we “are all children of light and children of the day.” As such, we are given clear examples of how to be prepared for Christ’s return. We are to “put on the breastplate of faith and love” and the helmet of “the hope of salvation”; we are to “encourage one another and build up each other.” In other words, the future (both the good and the bad parts of it) do not change our calling and purpose. We are to live each day placing our hope in Christ and moving into our world with love, compassion, and justice. In this, God will be glorified, and we will be ready!
Prayer
Gracious God, grant us a deeper confidence in you. May our hope be sure. May our faith continue to deepen. May our actions continue to be filled with love for all. Lord, we pray that your Holy Spirit would continue to transform us from glory to glory that you might be glorified in our lives and in your world. In Christ’s holy name, amen.
Rev Dr Rob A. Fringer
Principal
Nazarene Theological College
40 Woodlands Drive