Twin City church of Christ Blog
“Feb 12, 2024 - Like a Thief in the Night”
Categories: 2024 Reading DevotionalsLike a Thief in the Night
Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6
Paul has discussed how the righteous will be raised when Jesus returns and now addresses “the times and the seasons” when that will happen (1 Thess 5:1). Again, he sees no need to write about when (as in 4:9) because they already know that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night”(1 Thess 5:2). This alludes back to Jesus’ own words (Matt 24:3) and stresses the unexpected nature of his return. We don’t schedule thieves. “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 Thess 5:3). Convinced all is well—and that no judgment is coming on the world—they are completely unprepared. They will find that their peace and safety is an illusion.
Christians are not so. “But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief”(1 Thess 5:4). We are well aware that Jesus will return to judge the world and deliver his people. We simply don’t know when. The challenge is to live in a state of constant preparation—the way we might if we knew a thief was coming—so that the day does not “surprise” us. “So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober”(1 Thess 5:6). We hold faithful vigil, waiting for our master.
The picture of the “thief in the night” reminds us that we can never predict the return of Jesus; millennia of failed predictions only reinforce the point. Paul does not want us to guess, but to prepare. Meanwhile, the danger remains that we will feel that the “peace and security” of the present moment lulls us to sleep. We might lose the urgency of preparation and perhaps even forget that judgment is coming. Paul urges us to “keep awake and be sober.” And so we hold faithful vigil, waiting for our master.
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One Thing to Think About: What does “peace and security” look like in our time?
One Thing to Pray For: The endurance to continue soberly waiting
