1 Thessalonians 5:2-3

"2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, 3 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 Thessalonians 5:2-3

The Lord will come like a thief in the night! If you are asleep this is a very scary thought. Caught tottaly off gausrd with no time to react. In that moment you will fear that you are unprepared, not ready to defend yourself. You will have made descsions up to that point to disregard that the time would come, when the Lord returned.

Judgement day could be as close as, now, for instance. Somehwhere in the back of your mind you have pondered that one day you will be in this position, maybe dead, maybe just asleep when He returned. But for some reason, or lack of reason, you brushed it off and descided to continue in the same manner that you had been for all the moments through your life.

Like a pregnant woman, the birth pains just begin, labor sets in and the wter breaks. At that point the mother to be can not change her circumstance, the birth has begun. She did not chose the start and can not determine the end, only go through the pain until the joy comes.

So all that maybe have heard for years the Good News of the Gospel, maybe you have pondered it a bit. Maybe you have brought your kids on Sundays so that they may get a little religion. May be when a loved one has died you thought about your own eternity. Whatever the reason though you have chose to stay distant. Within your comfort zone. Just inside the acceptance of a circle of friends who wouldn't understand if you truly gave yourself to the Lord. What ever the reason, you are asleep in the eyes of the Lord. You are the unprepared home owner who had the alarm installed but just never used the alarm feeling safe within your own shelter.

The day will come when your indescision will cost you! You will no longer be faced with a descsion to follow Jesus Christ you will be faced with the consequences of not following Him. On that day you will reamin dead to sin, and lust and pride and whatever else kept you from taking that step towards Him previously. He will look upon you and with a tear in His eye say that He did not know you. He may have seen you before, here and there, but you never spoke His name or placed your faith in Him. You never took the warnings seriously and therefore the results are your own doing.

For those that believe. For those that have heard His voice and know His name there is no fear for on the day of His return it will be a glorious moment. The Hope will become reality and the Saviour will stand with open arms for those who He knows by name. The preperation of the soul, the home, will have not been in vain and the thief may come, the destruction at hand but they will pass through. The Birth pains, will be worth the coming child.

Quick question, do you believe that you will go to heaven when you die? Why?

Lord, your time and place of return will be determined only by our Father in Heaven. Let those that only go through the motions, who hope without faith, who know your name but reject it realize that they are unprepared. Let them come to a restful sleep where they know, regardless of the time that they will be ok, that they will avoid the destruction that awaits. Amen.