1Th. 5:1,2 ¶ Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

The recent solar eclipse caused me to start thinking about the return of Christ. I know what some of you are thinking, here we go again. “They have been saying that for two thousand years.” Yes ‘we’ have. The Bible predicted the first coming of Christ, ‘they’ talked about that for four thousand years; then He came. The solar eclipse reminded me about just how perfect His whole creation is. We can predict things like eclipses many years before they happen because creation is absolutely precise. So is history. The plans of God are advancing perfectly, nothing is out of place, nothing is out of timing. The Lord will return. What has to be asked; are you awake or asleep? Here are some thoughts from Barclay on the return of Christ.

“He (Paul) repeats that the coming of the day will be sudden. It will come like a thief in the night. But he also insists that that is no reason why a man should be caught unawares. It is only the man who lives in the dark and whose deeds are evil who will be caught unprepared. The Christian lives in the light and no matter when that day comes, if he is watchful and sober, it will find him ready. Waking or sleeping, the Christian is living already with Christ and is therefore always prepared. No man knows when God’s call will come for him and there are certain things that cannot be left until the last moment. It is too late to prepare for an examination when the examination paper is before you. It is too late to make the house secure when the storm has burst.”
Two things jump out at me from this quote. First, there is no excuse to be caught unaware. If we live in the light of God’s word and His love we will be absolutely ready. As the day draws near an anticipation will grow in His children. The second thing is even more sobering; there are some things that cannot be left for the last moment. No man knows the day of His coming or the day of our death, that day approaches all of us. So respond to the signs of His coming, get ready! None of us want that day to come and for us and not be ready.