Read 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18

Are you living every day (as if it’s your last) for His glory? Do you work diligently at your job and in your home (as if He isn’t coming for another 10 years) for His name’s sake?

Do you shake salt and shine the light every chance you get?

Do you remain balanced, cheerful, and winsome, as you anticipate His return? How easy to live complacent lives, almost oblivious to some of the more obvious signs of God’s purposes being fulfilled. The Scriptures encourage a more alert and engaging approach.

Now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18)

Be honest. Is this the first time you’ve ever read those words about what happens to Christians who die? If so, they deserve a second hearing. Take time to reread those verses aloud...and meditate on what is being communicated. It ought to bring both humility and gratitude; curiosity and joy. Such truth has a way of bringing focus and purpose to an otherwise dull and directionless life. Pause and let it all sink in.

Devotional content taken from Good Morning, Lord...Can We Talk? by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2018. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries. All rights reserved.

The full devotional can be purchased at https://www.tyndale.com/p/good-morning-lord-can-we-talk/9781414380681.