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Godly Living in View of the End Times
When a pregnant woman goes into labor, neither she nor her husband want to choose that moment as the time to pack their bags, look for phone numbers, or make arrangements for the care of their other children. So they plan ahead. They pack everything they might possibly need for the hospital stay well in advance. They put the babysitter on speed dial. Labor is certain yet unpredictable—being caught unprepared could be disastrous!
In 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul compares the coming judgment in the Day of the Lord to the pains of labor or a thief in the night. Many people remember only the thief metaphor and relax in the delusion that it might not come at all. But the image of a woman in labor reminds us of the urgency of the situation. We might not know when the Lord is coming, but He is coming—and we had better be ready!
In our study of 1 and 2 Thessalonians, we'll be reminded of Paul's comforting and compelling words to the believers in Thessalonica. He urged them to be prepared for the Day of the Lord by standing firm in the faith and continuing in their practice of love for one another. We will see how our view of eternity should affect our lives in this very moment. We will empathize with believers of the day, whose faith was under attack from the outside world. And we will find encouragement in the hope of what God has in store for those who trust in Him.
Thank you for studying with us this month and for supporting Today in the Word as you are able!
Thanks to the second-century satirist Lucian we have a good picture of some of the traveling teachers who exploited unwary listeners during Paul's day. In Alexander the False Prophet, Lucian writes about one Alexander and his unscrupulous companion: “They readily discerned that human life is swayed by two great tyrants, hope and fear, and that a man who could use both of these to advantage would speedily enrich himself.”
