Day 269

The Day of the Lord

Read: Joel 1-3

The minor prophets used this term, “The day of the Lord,” frequently. Joel uses it five times in this brief book. He begins by speaking of a terrible plague of locusts which has either just happened or is soon to occur. The prophets were so sure that God’s predictions would come true that they sometimes spoke of the future as if it already happened.

The day of the Lord is a great day of judgment, either within history or at the end of history. This plague is a day of the Lord, a reminder that God comes suddenly in judgment, a foretaste of that ultimate judgment day which stands at the end of history.

The proclamation of the day of judgment is always a call to repentance. God will spare from the impending disaster those who come to him in the right spirit. It is not too late now, but unless action is taken at once, suddenly it will be too late. “‘Yet even now,’ says the Lord, ‘return to me with all your heart . . . and rend your hearts and not your garments.’ Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful” (2:12-13). Have you done so?

The fact that there is a day of the Lord demands a clear-cut decision on our part now, and then to live a life which proves it.

PRAYER
Father, draw many people to Christ before it is forever too late. Use us as instruments of salvation through our words and deeds. In Christ’s name. Amen.