Day 197

Hope in Christ’s return

Key Verses: 4, 8, 14, 16-18, 19-22

There is a popular notion spinning in Christian circles that we as Jesus-followers will be surprised when Jesus returns. Jesus will come suddenly, but it will not be a surprise, since we know He is coming and we are waiting for it. Just like a woman in labor. She might not know the exact moment of the upcoming birth, but she knows it is coming. She is not surprised when she hears those first cries of life. So too, we know Jesus is going to return. When the trumpet sounds, we will know exactly what it is.

But for those who don’t know Christ and who are living their lives without an active knowledge of His coming, it will be sudden, unexpected, life altering. They are walking in darkness, asleep to the Truth. They are unaware or uncaring of the consequences of their everyday actions.

We must live our lives differently than they do, since we know Christ is returning. We need to keep our senses sharp so as not to live in a way that dishonors Christ. Paul speaks of the others as being drunk. We don’t know if this was literal drunkenness, or whether Paul was using drunkenness as a picture of being unaware of one’s surroundings and responsibilities. We need to be sober. This means not under the influence of alcohol to the point of disconnection, but also anything else that might pull us off focus.

Jesus repeatedly said we need to watch for His return. As a guard on night patrol on a Forward Operating Base in a combat zone must stay awake and focused or he jeopardizes not only his own life, but the lives of his comrades, so we must stay awake in our spiritual watching. We can’t afford to let the Enemy get past our perimeter, infiltrating our defenses, able to attack from within.

Paul closes out this book by giving us a glimpse of what sober living looks like. He does this by showing what it is not, and by what it is. We need to be in the work of warning, encouraging, helping and patience. This is our work toward outsiders and those who are stumbling.

Our lives need to be filled with rejoicing, prayer and thanksgiving. I don’t know about you, but I get tired of being around people who are complaining and grumbling. I like being around rejoicers, prayers, and thankers! I like myself when I am that way. I think I need to be even more so.

Paul even includes some worship service directives. When we gather for worship, it is not to be simply an intellectual exercise, devoid of the unexpected. God wants to be present, intervening in our nice neat boxes. He wants to be vitally, energetically involved in our worship of Him. Are we willing to let Him invade our perimeter?