Monday, July 25, 2011
1 Thessalonians 5:5 ... you are all children of light, children of the day.
LIVE FOR "THE DAY"
That sounds like the philosophy of the world: "Live for the Day." Make the most of each day. Go for the gusto. We don't know what tomorrow will bring or if there will be a tomorrow, so live it up today. Or as the Epicureans put it, "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die."
We, as Christians, ought to have the same motto for life although with a vastly different focus. Live for the Day! Not today, not with a focus on the here and now, but the day of Christ's return. Paul reminds us in this chapter of Thessalonians that the Day of the Lord is surely coming. That Day will come suddenly when we don't expect it.
God also tells us what it will be like for those who just live for today and not for that Day. "While people are saying, 'There is peace and security,' then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape" (1 Thessalonians 5:3). It will be a dreadful time when the mockers of Christ and those who have no time for Christ in their life will suddenly see Jesus Christ descending out of the clouds to judge all people.
"But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him" (vss. 4-10).
There is no greater day to live for than the Day that we will stand before Christ. That day can come at any moment -- either when we die and leave this earth or when Christ returns. In the days to follow we will look at the rest of this chapter and see how we are to "Live for The Day."
