In today’s Bible passage, the apostle... - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2024

But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.
1 Thessalonians 4:13

In today’s Bible passage, the apostle Paul addresses people whom he calls “brethren”. He could address them in this way because he was united with them through faith in Jesus Christ. They, just like him, knew God as their Father – they had become children of God. That is why even today believing Christians call each other ‘brothers and sisters in the Lord’, because they all belong to the family of God.

Christians do not need to worry about their brothers and sisters in faith who have already died, because everyone who dies in living faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will be reunited with them in the “resurrection of life”. Then the believers will be in heaven forever with their Saviour, Jesus Christ.

But then there are the “others”. Among them there are both the indifferent, who are not interested in matters of faith, and those who are declared opponents of faith in Christ. This includes the agnostic, who cannot decide on anything, and the self-confident, who think they do not need faith or can practise their own brand of ‘faith’.

The “others” represent a multi-layered society. But one thing unites them: they have no hope. At the graves of their loved ones they cry tears of hopelessness, and although many of them claim that with death everything is over, their mourning is mixed in with the fear of eternity.

Yes, man needs a sure hope that goes beyond this life, an “anchor of the soul” to hold on to: faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Today’s reading: 1 Samuel 20:5-23 · Psalms 106:16-31