READING: 2 Kings 22-23, Psalm 73, 2 Corinthians 5
We live in an “in between” time when we’re living out our faith here on earth while awaiting either death or the return of Christ. For the apostle Paul, the reality of eternity (as we noted in yesterday’s devotion) affected everything. He knew we would all stand before Christ and answer for the way we live, and that truth was one of the reasons that compelled him to persuade others to follow Christ. It also gave him courage to press on, his knowing that the presence of God’s Spirit in him was a guarantee of God’s completing His plan. He was God’s ambassador proclaiming reconciliation to the world.
Indeed, as he looked at living “in between,” Paul framed his life with this general statement: “So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him” (2 Cor 5:9). As one writer described it, “How long he will continue to live at home in the body or whether he will soon die and be away from the body are matters which he cannot determine. But what he must determine is how he will live. Paul determines that it will be his aim in life to please the Lord.”*
That’s my aim, too—and I trust it’s yours.
PRAYER: “Lord, I want to please You today.”
TOMORROW’S READING: 2 Chronicles 34-35, 2 Corinthians 6
* Kruse, C. G. (1987). 2 Corinthians: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 8, p. 116). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.