DON'T FORGET!

Don’t Forget!

He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

Acts 1:9

READ ACTS 1:1–11

My niece, her four-year-old daughter Kailyn, and I had a wonderful Saturday afternoon together. We enjoyed blowing bubbles outside, coloring in a princess coloring book, and eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. When they got in the car to leave, Kailyn sweetly called out the opened window, “Don’t forget me, Auntie Anne.” I quickly walked toward the car and whispered, “I could never forget you. I promise I will see you soon.”

In Acts 1, the disciples watched as Jesus was “taken up before their very eyes” into the sky (v. 9). I wonder if they thought they might be forgotten by their Master. But He’d just promised to send His Spirit to live in them and empower them to handle the persecution that was to come (v. 8). And He’d taught them He was going away to prepare a place for them and would come back and take them to be with Him (John 14:3). Yet they must have wondered how long they would have to wait. Perhaps they wanted to say, “Don’t forget us, Jesus!”

For those of us who have put our faith in Jesus, He lives in us through the Holy Spirit. We still may wonder when He will come again and restore us and His creation fully. But it will happen—He won’t forget us. “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

By Anne Cetas

REFLECT & PRAY

We enjoy walking with You now, but we look forward to the day when all things will be fully restored. Come soon, Lord Jesus.

How do you sense God’s presence in your life? What are you looking forward to the most in eternity?

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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT

Acts 1:1-11 serves as a flashback to Luke’s “former book,” the gospel of Luke, and a prologue to the book of Acts. In both accounts, Jesus promised the apostles the Holy Spirit who would clothe them with power (Luke 24:46-49; Acts 1:8). The Holy Spirit serves as “a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession” (Ephesians 1:14); a promise that we will not be forgotten. Julie Schwab