Daily Devotional for Saturday, November 4

Caught Up Together

“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: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words,” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18.

A mother was explaining to her little girl the death of her father. The mother said, “God has sent for your father and will send for us, but I do not know just when.” Finally, the little girl said, “If we do not know just when God is going to send for us, do you not think we had better pack up and get ready to go? God might send when we are not ready.”

What glorious hope we have because God has promised that He will return for His children and take us to dwell with Him eternally! As Paul exhorted, we should be comforted by these truths. We have hope because this life on earth is not the sum total of our existence. We have an eternal home in Heaven awaiting us. Whether we are rescued from this earth by Christ’s return or by the grave, we have hope to carry us through the trials of this life.

However, the promise of Christ’s return should not cause us to resort to a life of apathy. Instead, as the young girl said, we should be faithfully and fervently serving Christ until He comes. While the promise of His return gives us hope, it should also stir in us a great urgency to preach the gospel and to live a life that honors Christ.

FINAL THOUGHT: Christian, let the hope of Christ’s return propel you to a devoted life filled with joy!

Steven Ridings