When you find the word “therefore” in the Bible, it is a good idea to read the preceding verses and find out what it is there for. In the text above, this linking word reaches back to the message of the Lord’s return and calls for the kind of life described in our memory verse in view of that return.

Because the Lord is coming, we are to be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Like soldiers assigned to duty in wartime, we have been charged to serve God faithfully. Distractions must be resisted. Laziness overcome. Compromise with evil is out of the question.

In Chicago, One Sunday morning, a minister pointed to a young woman who had been converted about a year and a half, and said, “What are you doing for God? Why don’t you do something for God?”

To give emphasis to his words, the minister stepped down from the pulpit, went to where the young woman was sitting, took her hand, conducted her out to the middle aisle, made her turn toward the door, and giving her a push, said, “I want you to start doing something for God.”

That push sent the young woman to the other side of the globe. She became a missionary to Africa and led many to Christ, including General Allenby of Britain. Her name was Miss Malla Moe. The pastor who gave her the push was D. L. Moody.

Christ is coming! That should be all the push we need.