God says that “perfect love casts out fear.” (1 John 4:18) What are your greatest fears about the future? List them here. Instead of walking in fear of future tribulations, we look forward to a bridegroom who has prepared a place for us! Living in the light of the urgency of our call and the hope of His rewards changes everything. We can be confident when we walk intimately with Jesus. We have an opportunity to make every day count before Christ’s return. “And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.” NIV Why must we be ready? John tells us in 1 John 2:28: As believers, we must live with such alertness and sensitivity to God’s commands. A well-trained hunting dog remains on point until the hunter commands him to retrieve the prize. If Jesus taught us to be “in the know” about the signs of His coming, we would be informed, watching and waiting. A person who walks in the light also lives in the light of God’s truth. Christians of integrity have nothing to hide. The beloved disciple also taught that we are “children of light.” Walking in the light connotes that we are open to the conviction and revelation of the Holy Spirit-we live clean lives with no “secret skeletons” in the closet. John the apostle stated the profound truth that “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5-7). The burglar’s approach is sudden, unexpected, and surprising. Jesus used the “thief in the night” imagery in the Olivet discourse (Matthew 24:42-43) and in Luke 12:35-40. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:4-11 NIV

He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. “But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. He used the same analogy-being awake instead of asleep-and then described what “being awake” looks like: Paul, in his first epistle to the Thessalonians, clarified further what the concept of “being ready for the coming of the Lord” is all about.

Thief in the night