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Sep 16, 2026 06:00am

You Know Better

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Have you said that lately to your kids? I can even remember it being said to me when I was a teenager.

I was out with friends, and something bad had happened. And these were the facts:

1. I shouldn’t have been out at that time.

2. This wasn’t the area of town I should have been in.

3. Nothing good came from being in that area, at that time, with those people.

I knew better.

How did I know better? Well, I wasn’t ignorant. I knew what went on in those kinds of places, especially after dark. I knew the type of people who came to those areas and the trouble they were known for.

I knew better.

And yet, I still made that choice. A bad choice, as I later realized.

**1 Thessalonians 5:4–11**

“But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.

“For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.

“For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.

“Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.”

This isn’t just talking about the presence and absence of light. Paul used these words as a metaphor for what takes place in the night and also to speak about knowledge and ignorance.

He called them brethren. These are believers, the church there in Thessalonica. They were of the light, which meant they knew the truth about spiritual things. They understood right from wrong according to the Lord. They weren’t in darkness or ignorant of what God had commanded of His followers and what their response should be.

They knew better.

When Paul talked about being a child of the day, he was saying they should be holy, set apart for the things of God, not living in sins they believe are hidden in darkness.

To be prepared for the Lord’s coming, they should remember these things and be mindful of them, cautious, on guard, and clear-headed. And they should be sharing this truth with others.

Look at verse 9. It says that God didn’t appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through Jesus.

This is God’s plan.

This is the truth He wants others to know.

We are sinners, all of us. Our sin is against a holy God who is righteous and just. That sin must be punished.

God made a way for that sin to be paid for.

He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins. Jesus was crucified, His blood poured out on the cross. He was buried, but that wasn’t where it ended.

Jesus rose from the dead!

He was victorious over the grave and sin. He paid the price that was owed for our sins. He offers us something no one else has the power to offer:

Forgiveness.

Salvation.

Eternity in Heaven.

God’s wrath will be poured out on sin one day, but He desires for us to be saved from that. He wants us to know Him and to be loved by Him.

If you know Him, live like it.

Quit living like the world. Let Jesus shine through you to the lost so that they might find their way to Jesus, to the Light.

And if you don’t know Him, what’s stopping you? What’s preventing you from receiving that forgiveness today and having a true relationship with God Himself?

Some believe their sin is too big, they are too far gone, that God could never forgive them or want them.

But you know better.

He has erased every barrier. He offers His hand to you today.

Will you take it?

We don’t have to live in darkness anymore! Jesus frees us from that life of sin and welcomes us as children of the day.