READING: I Thessalonians 5:1-11
As a “wolf cub” in the Boys Scout Movement many years ago, I was always excited whenever we were told to shout the motto of the movement “Be Prepared!” It gave me a sense of importance that I was being called upon to fight in the army of the King. And therefore, I could not afford to be idle.
Being prepared for the coming of Christ is to ensure that, at every moment, we are conscious of the strategies which our arch-enemy, Satan, employs to make us lose our
readiness to welcome our soon-coming King.
One of the things Satan does to make you feel at ease and forget that there is warfare is to make you fall in love with the world. The Bible says: “love not the world neither the things that are in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life…” (John 2:15-17). But there is also another danger which stares us in the face and which distracts us from being on the alert. That is the emergence of so-called teachers who predict and fix days and seasons when the Lord will come. These predictions are false and have no scriptural basis. We must disregard them; otherwise we lose our sense of urgency on the return of the Lord.
While waiting therefore, we should walk in the light that is, living a life that pleases the Lord; so that when He comes, He will find us truly worthy of being raptured. We
live in the liberty of the Holy Spirit, but let us not forget, “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance”.
PRAYER: Loving Jesus, I am sorry that I have “often relaxed instead of being watchful. Help me to always remember to depend on you for more grace. Amen.