2020 Daily Devotion - Day 251

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In 1914, Sir Earnest Shackleton, an explorer from England, attempted to cross Antarctica. His exploration didn’t go so well as his ship, The Endurance, was caught in the ice pack and slowly crushed as the ice closed in around it. Luckily, Shackleton and his crew managed to make it off the ship and they camped on a drifting iceberg for 5 months. The problem was the iceberg was drifting into warmer waters and would eventually melt. So Shackleton and his men took the lifeboats they had left and set out. They came to an uninhabited island. Shackleton and five others decided they would go for help, while 22 remained on the island under the command of Frank Wild.

Month after month, those men waited until they were finally rescued in August of 1916; two years after they had initially set out to cross Antarctica. The story goes that Frank Wild was the one who kept hope alive in the hearts of those men on the island. The way he did this was every morning he would pack up his things in cheerful anticipation of the promised rescue and return of Shackleton. He would say to his men, “Roll up your sleeping bags boys, the boss may come today!”


The same is true for us. We wait for the ultimate rescue when Jesus comes again. And because He keeps His promises, we can wait with courage and face the challenges of our lives. Because Jesus is coming again, you can keep going.

Hebrews 9:28 ESV
So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Pray with me:
Lord Jesus, You are coming again. And because of your second coming, we can find hope. Your second coming is another reminder that we are not alone or abandoned, but rather we are precious to You. This is why You are coming again; to receive us to Yourself. In Your holy name we pray. Amen.

Yours because of Him,
Pastor John R. Steward
Senior Pastor
Mount of Olives Church
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