A WORD FOR TODAY, November 17, 2025
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, November 17, 2025
“Even so you also, when you see these things happening, know that God’s Kingdom is near. Most certainly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things are accomplished. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away. So be careful, or your hearts will be loaded down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day will come on you suddenly. For it will come like a snare on all those who dwell on the surface of all the earth. 36 Therefore be watchful all the time, praying that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.” Luke 21:31-36, WEB
There is an episode of “The Big Bang Theory” during which Leonard, Howard, and Raj went out into the desert to see a meteor shower. They didn't rough it while they were out there. They took a satellite television and coolers full of good food. Others set up camp around the area, including some older middle school teachers. Howard found them attractive and as was typical flirted with them. They were hippy types and give Howard a bag of cookies. It didn’t take long to realize that the cookies were spiked with marijuana. The guys weren’t used to the drugs and became very silly. In the meantime, they completely missed the meteor shower, even wondering at one point if they were missing something important.
We listen to an oldies radio show on Sunday mornings, reruns of Casey Casem’s American Top Forty form the 1980’s. We race to figure out which year, a game that is sometimes easy and sometimes a bit hard. Was it early, middle, or late in the decade? Sometimes I can guess because I identify the songs with high school or college. Bruce can figure out some of them because of where he was stationed at the time. We can usually guess within a year or two. The thing is, we wouldn’t have to guess if we paid attention at the beginning of the show. Though Casey didn’t announce the year forty years ago, the modern edit of the show does tell us the date. I am determined to listen each morning when I turn it on, but I usually manage to miss it. I get distracted and realize moments after the announcement that I’ve missed it again. They announce the year repeatedly throughout the show, so we eventually know if we are right, but it is always frustrating that I am not listening at the right time.
We live our life of faith on a balance beam of sorts. We are meant to keep watch, to wait patiently and expectantly for the Lord. Yet, we are also meant to be busy while we are doing so. I don't know about you, but I tend to miss the important things when I am busy with the tasks of life. I miss the date of the radio show much too often, but I’m sure I miss many other things, also. Have you ever discovered, much too late, that you missed the opportunity to help someone in need? Have you been so busy doing things that you missed the chance to share the Gospel with a neighbor? Are you so busy talking about what you will do when Christ comes that you miss His face in the homeless man on the corner?
There will come a day when Christ comes in His glory. We don't know when that day will be. I could be today or in a thousand years. Many in this generation, as in every generation before us, believe that we will be the ones who will see that great Day. Some have even tried to predict when it will happen. Over the years prophets have set the date, only to set it back when it does not happen according to their prediction. They are so busy studying the scriptures to interpret the signs that they don't realize that Jesus Christ called them to live in this day as His witnesses and workers. We should be watching, but not as people with our heads in the clouds or our eyes in our books, afraid of what might happen. We also must beware that we aren't spending so much time at our daily life that we miss the very thing for which we are waiting, our Lord Jesus Christ. He will come one day, but He comes to us every day in the lives of those who need us in this world.
A WORD FOR TODAY is posted five days a week – Monday through Friday. The devotional on Wednesday takes a look at the scripture from the Revised Common Lectionary for the upcoming Sunday. A WORD FOR TODAY is posted on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Word-for-Today-Devotional/339428839418276. Like the page to receive the devotion through Facebook. For information and to access our archives, visit http://www.awordfortoday.org.