Daily Devotional for Friday, April 10

The Conditions at the Second Coming

“And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man,” Luke 17:26.

As a young teenager, I babysat some to make some money. I was so excited to get my first job. Two sisters and their husbands were going out for the evening, so they called me to babysit their children. It was not a long assignment, maybe a couple of hours. The cousins played and snacked, and I played a couple games with them. They began to get a little restless, and, at that time, I did not yet have my teacher voice or look or my running list of spur-of-the-moment activities. The four little guys began jumping from one couch to the other, and before long, they had pulled the cushions off and made slides of them. Of course, the parents returned right then. I was so embarrassed.

The Jews had preconceived ideas of how the Son of Man would return. They thought the Messiah would ride in, conquer enemies, give Israel back their land and set up His kingdom. They associated a lot of fanfare and brewing with His return. Jesus taught that His kingdom is not observable to the naked eye. It is not a massive army advancing over the horizon. The Son of Man will return in a flash, like lightning. It will be like the days of Noah, when everyone least expects it.

It will be a regular, ordinary day. Life will be in its normal rhythm of weeknight dinners,  weddings, 9 to 5 workdays, parties, trips to the store and regular weekly activities. The ones who observed Noah’s preposterous preparations went about their business as usual until it started to rain. The wicked folks of Sodom watched nonchalantly as Lot and his family left until fire dropped and bits of sulfur fell. They were caught off guard. Jesus warned us so we will not be caught off guard.

THOUGHT

“Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh” (Matthew 25:13).

Kelli Reynolds