READING: Proverbs 11-13, Psalm 8, Romans 13
Every once in a while, I need to be reminded of days when I first became a believer – when my eyes might have been more properly focused then than now. I’ve written in other devotions over the years that I became a believer during the “rapture/tribulation/ ‘Thief in the Night’ /second coming chart” days when everyone was announcing the soon return of Jesus. We weren’t sure we’d make it out of the 1970s, in fact. I’m reminded now that we were mistaken in our calendaring, but I’m also aware that we may not have been wrong in our alertness.
Now years later, I confess that I probably don’t think enough about the possibility of Jesus’ soon return. I know intellectually that every day brings us closer to that date, but I doubt that I practically allow that truth to change my daily living much. So, these last verses of Romans 13 deeply convict me today:
Besides this, since you know the time, it is already the hour for you to wake up from sleep, because now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is nearly over, and the day is near; so let us discard the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk with decency, as in the daytime: not in carousing and drunkenness; not in sexual impurity and promiscuity; not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires. (Rom 13:11-14)
Today, I must awaken from my slumber and live as if today is the day of Jesus’ return. How about you?
PRAYER: “Lord, change the way I live today in the light of Your return.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Proverbs 14-15, Romans 14
