Keep Your Eyes on the Skies – November 25, 2024

Read: Isaiah 51:4-6

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail.
Isaiah 51:6

Keep Your Eyes on the Skies

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Away from city lights, with their eyes looking up to the dark summer sky, the young family marveled at the number of stars they could see. Constellations, millions of stars, and even the subtle white band of the Milky Way could be spotted that dark night. Their conversation turned to how amazing and powerful God is that he put all those stars in the sky and allowed humans to see them from his created earth.

It must have been similar to the sky Abraham saw when God promised him that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. Abraham looked up at the night sky filled with so many stars that he couldn’t possibly count them! (Genesis 15:5). As we remember how God fulfilled this promise and many others to his Old Testament believers, we can be assured that God fulfills his promises to us, too. His promises never fail!

Yet, we are still waiting for one promise to be fulfilled—Jesus’ return to earth. Waiting for that day for him to come and take us to heaven can be hard. That’s why God tells us to “lift up your eyes to the heavens.” Jesus will come back on the clouds to gather all believers to himself on the Last Day. While we wait, God wants us to focus on things that will help us prepare for heaven so “Don’t lose sight of what I have in store for you!” he says.

So, we make use of family devotions like these. We make worship a part of our daily lives. We pray together. We serve one another with the gifts God has given. We feed our faith with God’s Word and let him fill us up with his grace and the promise of his forgiveness, life, and salvation. We ask God to help us wait for him and the heaven he has prepared a place for us.

God sure has shown his beauty in the skies above us. From rainbows to solar eclipses, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies declare the work of his hands” (Psalm 19:1). None of that compares to the glories we will have in heaven when we are forever with the Lord!

Closing Prayer:

O Lord, keep us in your grace until you take us to be in heaven with you forever. How we long for that day! Until it comes, help us to share this saving message with others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The questions below are to help families discuss this devotion. The questions are divided by age group as suggestions, but anyone could reflect on any of the questions as they desire.

Questions for Younger Children

• Where do we hear God’s promises to us?
• While you wait for Jesus’ return, what can you do (hint: look up … remember God’s promise!)?

Questions for Elementary Age Children

• What promise are we waiting for God to fulfill?
• Why can we be certain Jesus will come back to take us to be in heaven with him?

Questions for Middle School and Above

• Discuss what makes waiting for Jesus’ return difficult?
• How can we encourage each other as we live our lives for Jesus and wait expectantly for his return?