Daily Devotional

At the end of his letter to the Corinthians, Paul exhorts them with a few instructions. This seems like a simple verse but there are a number of key commands here for us to follow. The first is watch. To watch means to pay attention, to be aware of what is going on around you. We are to watch for Jesus and for the signs that will usher in His second coming. While prophecy can certainly be confusing and hard to understand in modern context, we are called to watch, to be prepared, and in order to do that we need to be familiar with what the Bible says will happen at the time of the end. We should not ignore the things around us but rather see the signs and be motivated to share the good news of the Gospel with as many as we can.

Second we are to stand fast in the faith. When we read about the times of the end we see that many will fall away and be deceived. Many who we think are fellow believers will be found to not really be, for many false teachers will rise in the later times and deceive many to destruction. So as the end draws near we are called to stand firm, to know and believe the Gospel, to put our trust in Jesus and not in the sayings or promises of men. It is going to get harder to stand boldly for the truth of God, and the pressure will come from our family and friends to compromise and bend on the things of God. Brothers and sisters, if we do not know well the truths of the Scriptures, it will be much easier for us to compromise little by little.

Thirdly, we must be brave. As we stand up to the world, which will hate us for Jesus’ namesake, it is going to take bravery to stand in the face of the majority. To be called intolerant, ignorant, backward, and what the world will call unloving. Remember it is not loving to make someone feel better all while watching them walk into Hell. If we know the truth and the One that gives life and salvation, how are we to keep silent and not share with others who are perishing.

Fourthly, we must be strong. In order to stand firm in the faith in the end times we will need great strength, but not strength that comes from within us, but from the Holy Spirit. We need to be in prayer that God will give us strength to face what we may not be able to imagine. We may be called to die for our faith, and only God can give us the strength to face that without cracking under pressure.

The last command is one of the most important for your witness to others. In all that you do, while you watch, stand firm in the faith with bravery and strength, you must do in love to others. Even those who will insult you, hate you, and maybe even kill you for the sake of Jesus Christ. Remember the world is blind to the truth, and the most powerful testimony is love toward those that hate you. Remember even Jesus on the cross, as they crucified and killed the most innocent man in history He cried “Father forgive them for they no not what they do.”

As we watch and wait for the return of Christ, I pray that we would stand firm in the faith, bravely, boldly, and in the strength only God can provide, and I pray that we would do all things in love to the glory of the One who died for us and saved us.  

New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.