Devotion for Monday, September 27, 2021

“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13).

How many times have you heard at a funeral, “Now they are an angel.”  Instead of being some kind of condolence, it is a lie that refutes what Scripture says.  We are not, nor will we ever be, angels.  The world grieves because it does not know.  It will settle for a false assurance.  You know that we were created to live into the image of Christ and become a child of God.  Therefore, do not settle for these worldly and lesser things, but put on the mind of Christ.

Lord, I hear these things so many times that I begin to repeat them myself.  Help me to mind my own business, but also hold me fast to what is right and true.  You have spoken truth and any part of what another says that is not true is a lie.  Help me to hold fast to the truth so that I may live into the image of Christ.  Help me to hold fast to the truth that in You is absolute hope and a future.

Lord Jesus, You have come to set us free from the captivity of this age.  In You there is hope, so that we will not remain trapped in the impossible situation of being good while being a sinner.  Lead me, O Lord, in the way of true life so that I would trust in You alone and share with others the hope I have in You in order that they too may have the unalterable hope You give through grace in faith.  Amen.