Daily Devotional for Saturday, April 27

The Resurrection of the Dead

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first,” 1 Thessalonians 4:16.

Don Quixote, the main character in the book of the same name, was quite mad. He lived in a fantasy world of chivalry and honor, and the book is about his quest to return those ideals to society. In the book, he fights with windmills which, in his mind, are giants. That is where we get the phrase “tilting at windmills” to describe fighting imaginary enemies. Generally, people who spend unusual amounts of time thinking of one thing are often as mad as Don Quixote.

I cannot speak for you, but I spend much time thinking about the rapture. I think about that day when Jesus will call His people to His Father’s house for that great marriage ceremony. I think about when it will be since there are many thoughts on that. I think about exactly how it will work. Will we fly up to Heaven very fast or just sort of float away? What about the people in the graves? Will we see them go first? I think about those things a lot, and some might say I am quite mad. They might say that about you as well!

So why was Don Quixote crazy, and we are not? Because his delusion came from his mind and no other source. Our anticipation comes from God’s Word and our Lord’s proven history of making good on His promises. This means you can take the promise made in our devotional verse at face value. Do you doubt what God says, or do you look forward to it with anticipation?

JUST A THOUGHT
When God tells us to be a peculiar people, He means different, not crazy. Believing God’s promises is not crazy, but based on God’s past performance as a promise keeper. We can place our confidence in Him.

Wally Fry