"The day is surely drawing near when Jesus, God's Anointed, In all His power shall appear as Judge whom God appointed. Then fright shall banish idle mirth and flames on flames shall ravage earth As Scripture long has warned us.
"O Jesus Christ, do not delay, but hasten our salvation; We often tremble on our way in fear and tribulation. O hear and grant our fervent plea: Come, mighty Judge, and set us free From death and ev'ry evil."
In our worship during November we turn our attention to the end of the year, not the calendar year, but the end of the church year. The season of Advent will soon begin the four weeks before Christmas. During Advent we celebrate our Lord's birth in Bethlehem, but we also look forward to His Second Advent, His return on the Last Day. Not only is the church year drawing to a close, but this world's history is also coming to an end. Since Jesus lived on earth, since He rose from the dead, we have been living in the last days. "The day is surely drawing near" when Jesus will return.
The day is coming, the apostle Paul writes, when God "will judge the world in righteousness by a Man whom He has appointed" (Acts 17:31b). That Man is God's anointed Son, true Man and true God. The Savior who died and conquered death for us will be our Judge on the Last Day and He has promised that "Whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life" (John 5:24b). On the Last Day Jesus will raise us up from our graves to live in His presence forever. As our hymn warns, that day will not be a happy one for those who reject Jesus as Lord and concern themselves only with the "idle mirth" of worldly pleasures. On the Day of Judgment the world's evil works will be exposed as the lies they are and "flames on flames shall ravage earth."
So what do we do as we wait for that Day? The apostle Peter writes that since "all these things are thus to be dissolved" we should be living in "holiness and godliness" (2 Peter 3:11). While we wait for our coming King, we live in humble repentance and refuse to take part in the world's sins. We serve our Lord by serving others, and we pray that our mighty Judge would come and "set us free from death and ev'ry evil." In the coming season of Advent and throughout the year, we offer up our Advent prayer to the King of kings: "Come, Lord Jesus!"
WE PRAY: Dear Savior, help me to live in holiness and godliness as I await Your return. Come, Lord Jesus! Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler. It is based on the hymn, "The Day Is Surely Drawing Near," which is number 508 in the Lutheran Service Book.
Reflection Questions:
1. Christmas is coming soon! Are you getting ready? One way you can prepare is by reading LHM's Advent devotions: Come, Let Us Adore Him, beginning Sunday, December 1, at lhm.org.
2. What role will Jesus have when He comes back to earth a second time?
3. How should we conduct ourselves as we wait on our Savior's return?
Today's Bible Readings: Ezekiel 5-7 1 Timothy 4
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