READING:
One-year plan: Psalms 69-72, Romans 13-14
Two-year plan: 1 Samuel 13:1-14:14, Luke 18:24-43
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I have written in the past about my interest in the Second Coming of Jesus in the late 1970s. I was hardly the only person who had such interest, and it were as if an entire “Second Coming industry” developed through publishers and speakers. We were almost convinced that we would not see the 1980s. That understand was, of course, decidedly wrong—and still we await the Lord’s return.
None of us knows the day of His coming, but we do know that it’s not farther away than it was in the 1970s. It can only be closer, and that reality should challenge us to live even more faithfully for God today. In Paul’s words, we need to “discard the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Rom 13:12) while also putting on the Lord Jesus and making “no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires” (Rom 13:14). That is, we are to live with urgency and focus, always looking forward in faith. We are to trust and follow the Lord, who is our armor. Our salvation is now nearer than it has ever been.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: Are you living today with urgency?
DAILY PRAYER: “Lord, turn my attention to You and Your return today.”
MONDAY’S READINGS:
One-year plan: Psalms 73-77, Romans 15
Two-year plan: 1 Samuel 14:15-52, Luke 19:1-10
