LIFELINK DEVOTIONAL

Thursday, September 16, 2020

Have you ever been surprised by something you expected?  I’m sure someone has a story, but for the most part, when we expect something, we look for it, and because we are looking for it we are not surprised when it arrives. We even sign up with delivery companies to get alerts on our phones so we know when a package is arriving. When we expect something, we look for it, and we are not surprised when it arrives.

That is to be the reality for disciples of Jesus as we wait for His return. We expect it. We look for it. We will not be surprised when He arrives.

When Jesus returns it will not surprise those who are looking for it.

1 Thessalonians 5:4-11 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. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

There is one HUGE principle that determines how true this is for your life.

Do we expect more from this world than we do from Christ’s return?

OUCH! That stings. We tend to expect the world’s system of politics, finances, recreation, employment, status, sports, friendships, sexual passions, and multiple other things to solve our identity crisis and give us value. But they never seem to fulfill us. We always need and want more.

But when we expect Jesus Christ to completely meet our need for identity, acceptance, and value, we turn from looking at the world and we gaze intently into the face of Christ, hoping to see it physically at any moment.

When we expect to find completeness in Christ, we will not be surprised that we find it.

Pastor John