2 Thessalonians 2:3–4: “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”

July 6th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

The church at Thessalonica, or at least some of its members, were upset by a rumor that was circulating, in Paul’s name, that the Day of the Lord had come and gone, and they’d missed it. Here in his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul denied the rumor and encouraged them, and us, to keep watching for Jesus’ return. Then Paul gave them new information from the Holy Spirit that the Day of the Lord can’t come until a falling away, an apostasy, takes place and the man of sin makes his appearance.

Jesus’ Second Return, or the Day Of The Lord, is imminent, but the appearance of the Antichrist must happen first. That false leader will displace all worship of God and demand the worship of himself in the temple in Jerusalem. Jesus said in Matthew 24:15–16: “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place . . . then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.”

The danger is that we will become distracted and miss the important things that are right in front of us. God wants us to stay focused on growing in Him and not become caught up in the cares of this world.

Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev used to tell of a time when there was a wave of petty theft in the Soviet Union. To curtail this the authorities put up guards around the factories. At one timber works in Leningrad, the guard knew the workers in the factory very well. The first evening, out came Pyotr Petrovich with a wheelbarrow and, on the wheelbarrow, a great bulky sack with a suspicious-looking object inside.

“All right, Petrovich,” said the guard, “what have you got there?”

“Oh, just sawdust and shavings,” Petrovich replied.

“Come on,” the guard said, “I wasn’t born yesterday. Tip it out.” And out came nothing but sawdust and shavings. So he was allowed to put it all back again and go home. When the same thing happened every night of the week the guard became frustrated. Finally, his curiosity overcame his frustration.

“Petrovich,” he said, “I know you. Tell me what you’re smuggling out of here, and I’ll let you go.”

“Wheelbarrows, my friend, “ said Petrovich, “wheelbarrows.”¹

“LORD, please keep us alert to the essentials and forget the sawdust. Use us to lead someone to You this day we ask in Jesus’ name.”

¹quoted in The Devil’s Gauntlet by Os Guiness