Dear Student of the Word,
It's been much too long since my last update, so withour further ado, let's move on in our study of Paul's two letter to the Thessalonians. In this installment, we finish up the first letter and will of course move on to the second the next time you hear from me. This week, we look at Paul's instruction to his readers concerning the Second Coming of Christ. I apply his teaching in a different way, so read on and see what you think. You can download the entire study at the end of this post, for this is only part four of this seven-part study:
Study Three, Part Four
5:1 Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
5:1-3 – Most people read this and think of the Second Coming of Christ, but don’t we miss a more practical, day-to-day application of this truth by pushing it in the future?
As you get older, you will probably see a fair share of death. Who knows if today will even be your last day on earth? On a trip to Singapore, a young man got up and showed the pictures of his car, which was demolished on a recent trip to the States. While visiting the Grand Canyon, he was driving too fast as he rounded a turn and flipped the car several times. What was an innocent tourist trip could have been his last on earth. The day of the Lord does indeed come as a “thief in the night.”
The brother said he came home and told his wife he loved her, because he hadn’t done that enough. When he was faced with his mortality, he decided to do those things that were most important. He realized that he wasn’t guaranteed tomorrow, so he has started doing things that were important today
If that is true, what are you doing with your life? Why do you postpone things until your retirement, or to that great procrastination destination—“some day”? Why do you talk about the next 20 years like you have them guaranteed? We must act like today is the last day.
When this author buried his father, we could barely carry his casket to his grave. No, he wasn’t a heavy man. It’s just that we put all his regrets into the coffin with him and we could barely pick it up. He had so many things he wanted to do, but he allowed fear of risk and failure to stop him almost every time.
When I considered his life, I determined I would not fall into the same trap. I vowed that “one day” I would visit Israel, and I have been there ten times. I said “one day” I would write a book, and I have written thirteen. I said “one day” I would visit the Rose Bowl Parade, and I have been there twice.
Please don’t misunderstand. I am not trying to take Paul’s words and ignore the obvious reference to the return of Jesus. The same application of His imminent return holds true for you today: If the Lord could return tomorrow, what you are doing today?
With that in mind, I urge and implore you to stop procrastinating! Stop putting off until tomorrow or a decade of tomorrows what is in your power to pursue today. You will not do the things that God wants you to do by talking about them. There must be some urgency that will enable you to do them, or at least prepare to do them. And some of the urgency may come from the fact that you will not live forever.
What first steps can you take today that will enable you to reach some destination of your choosing? What have you put off until tomorrow that you can do today? Be honest, write those things down and then act like this is the last day you have to pursue them.
As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files.
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