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1 Thessalonians Reading | Week 3 | Day 2
Prayer
Allow some silence for your soul to catch up with your body. Thank God for time to spend with Him and ask Him to meet with you.
Bible Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3
Read these verses three times slowly.
Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
Reflection & Questions
In yesterday’s reading, Paul explained how death works for the believer and what happens when Jesus returns. In the next couple of readings, we will be looking at what Paul says about being ready for Jesus’ return. Today, Paul explains what it will be like for those who aren’t waiting for Jesus, and he tells us two images of what Jesus’ return will be like for them.
Firstly, he says it will be “like a thief in the night.” How does a thief come? While people are asleep. They aren’t expecting someone. Paul says, people will be saying “Peace and safety.” In other words, they will be comfortable in their brokenness and wrong beliefs. They don’t think there’s any threat to their way of being. Yet, “destruction will come on them suddenly.” Out of nowhere (for them), Jesus will appear. Secondly, he says it will be like “labor pains on a pregnant woman.” Like a thief, labor pains come all of sudden. However, labor pains are different from a thief, in that they are inescapable. They are unavoidable. There is no avoiding Jesus’ return.
So Jesus’ return for those who aren’t ready is that it will be sudden, unexpected and unavoidable. What’s the answer to being ready for Jesus? Tomorrow, Paul tells us what the key is – and it’s not knowing “times and dates” of His return.
- Are you ready for Jesus’ return?
- How do today’s verses apply to how you pray for and share with your ONE?
Prayer
Talk to God in response to today’s reading.
Worship Song
You might use this song today to worship Jesus today:
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Questions?
Ed Applegate
