Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Our reading titled Expecting Jesus was written by Cindy Hess Casper.

My friend Paul was awaiting the arrival of a technician to repair his refrigerator when he saw a text on his phone from the appliance company.

It read, Jesus is on his way and is expected to arrive at approximately 1135 a.m.

Paul soon discovered the technician's name was indeed Jesus. But when can we expect Jesus the son of God

to arrive? When he came as a man two thousand years ago and suffered the penalty of our sin,

he said that he'd be back, but only the father knew the precise day or hour of his return.

What difference might it make in our day-to-day priorities

if we did know the moment our Savior is coming back to earth?

In Matthew 24, Jesus cautioned us to be ready for his return.

The Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. He reminded us to keep watch because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. On the day of Christ's return, we won't get an alert on our phone to give us a heads up. So through the power

of the Spirit working through us, let's live each day with the perspective of eternity, serving

God, and taking advantage of every opportunity to share his message of love and hope with others.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Matthew chapter 24, verses 36 through 44.

But about that day or hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the sun, but only the Father.

As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving

in marriage, up to the day Noah entered

the ark, and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them

all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the son of man. Two men will be in the field.

One will be taken, and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a handmill. One will be in the field. One will be taken and the other left.

Two women will be grinding with a handmill. One will be taken and the other left.

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