“Taken Up”


Yesterday during my devotions, I was quite taken with the phrase “taken up” in Acts 1:2, describing the ascension of Christ. The verse says: “He was taken up to heaven.” That phrase implies that he did not have to initiate the trip from here below, the point of departure. Instead it was initiated from up above, the point of destination. Someone from above was superintending the trip.

The book of 1 Thessalonians uses a similar phrase to describe our own future ascent to heaven. We will be “caught up.”

As Christians, when we ascend to heaven at the moment of our departure (and when our bodies are resurrected at the Last Day), we’ll not have to initiate the trip, worry about the arrangements, map out the route, or fuss with the mechanics. We will be taken up. Someone else will superintend the process, and He’ll be waiting for us — along with all who have gone on before.