You know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. – 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12
The apostle Paul’s first letter to the church in Thessalonica pulsates with a sense of urgency. He regularly uses words like: exhort, encourage, urge, and admonish. For example:
• We ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. (4:1)
• We urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. (5:14)
Why does Paul use these words so often? Because we don’t have forever to fulfill the work God has given us to do. Every day the coming of Christ draws nearer. Every day more people pass into eternity. Every day we draw nearer to that great moment ourselves.
You are closer today to your unbreakable appointment with Jesus Christ than you were yesterday: “Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow” (Ps. 144:4). Therefore, since God has been so gracious with the time He has allotted to you, cultivate a sense of urgency—with one eye on the cross, and the other on the rapidly approaching Day of the Lord!
Pray that God would renew a sense of urgency in the church today. Pray that this urgency would cause us to intentionally point people to the Savior. Pray that He would teach us to live like there’s no tomorrow.
