1 Thessalonians 5:1-2 (NASB)
Now as to the periods and times, brothers and sisters, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord is coming just like a thief in the night.
Christians and non-Christians alike plan just about everything. These things include, but are not limited to: clothes we wear for any occasion, food we will purchase at the store, birthday parties, where and when we will take vacation, budgets, weddings, which sporting event we will watch on television or personally attend, restaurants we want to dine at, which name brand appliances we will buy, where our kids attend school, and the city and state we choose to raise our families.
The irony of this planning is that while we have dates and times charted out to do the things we hope to do, in reality, none of these plans are guaranteed to ever occur. Circumstances beyond our control can derail things, we change our minds, or death may unexpectedly come our way. Any host of reasons, at any time, can alter the best laid plans.
However, there is one event we have absolutely no control over; the Day of the LORD. He will return! The day or the hour we know not, but rest assured this day will come. As Christians, we know this and there is a peace that is associated with His return. On that great day God will wipe away ever tear from our eyes. There will be no more death, no more sorrow, no more crying, and no more pain (Rev. 21:4).
However, what is the fate of those who have not accepted the Lord? Scripture is clear. If you confess Christ as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Rom. 10:9). Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).
The unsaved will never have eternal life with God. Therefore, it is unacceptable for Christians to rest in their salvation as the lives of others are literally at stake. The Day of the LORD will come! God’s Word proves this to be true. Believers in Christ are to be His witnesses (Acts 1:8). It is the honor and duty of all Christians to share the LORD with those who do not know Him. I pray that God will continually strengthen you and I so we may introduce and encourage unbelievers to Jesus. He is the only hope for salvation.
Copyright 2025 Michael Callahan Ministries, LLC
Well said!!
There’s a saying: Man plans, God laughs. Or, If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.
Rick Warren’s dad, in a nursing home, bed ridden, kept getting up in the middle of the night and falling. The nursing home staff asked Rick to talk to his dad. Rick asked, “”What’s going on, Dad? Where are you going?”With tears in his eyes, he said,”Son, I’ve got to get just one more!”
May that be our motto:
“I’ve gotta get just one more for Jesus!”
That’s a powerful story, Jimmy. That man’s urgency must be ours!
As believers we are called to be ready, though we do not know the day or hour.
To be prepared is to seek Him, Know Him, Trust Him, and Follow Him. Submit are all, living for Him.
May we all seek one more.
May this truth be what always drives us.