On my drive to work this morning I was thinking about how blessed I am. In particular, I was thanking God for his grace and mercy towards me, and how He has blessed me with such a wonderful family and life. When I arrived at work, I pulled into my parking spot and started my devotional time which featured the following verse:
“ So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.” Hebrews 9:28
The thought of “eagerly” awaiting Christ’s return made me ask just how eagerly I was awaiting the Lord’s return. I tried to give myself some perspective by imagining that my wife Lisa had to go far away from me for ten years and there was nothing we could do to change that circumstance. To make matters worse, I would have no means of contacting her to see how she was doing or for us to share our love with one another. In my imagined scenario I thought about what it would be like for me as the day of her return approached. I considered how eagerly I would want to see her and be reunited. I figured that if the scenario were somehow real, I probably would not be able to sleep for the weeks that preceded our reunion. I’m sure my excitement level would be through the ceiling as I anticipated laying eyes on her again. I also thought about what those ten years would be like. I am certain that I would be terribly lonely and that I would live every day feeling like a part of me was missing (I know this because Lisa and I don’t even like to spend one day apart, let alone ten years!). I could envision myself feeling great sadness and spending a lot of time trying to figure out how I could see her. The best word that I could choose for what I would be feeling is that I would “yearn” for her every day.
I don’t know if this was fair to do or not, but I then took all those thoughts and feelings and I asked myself if that is the way I think and feel about Christ’s return. Do I yearn to see Him? Am I filled with excitement about the day the trumpets will sound announcing His return? Do I feel like there is a part of me that is just not complete without His actual presence in front of me? Do I mourn as I live in a world that He does not presently inhabit in the physical sense?
I’m not sure how you would respond to my imaginary scenario in which your loved one was absent from you. I am also not sure if you “eagerly” await Christ’s return. Whatever your answers are, it is good for all of us to consider the response we have when we think of Christ coming back. In so doing we may be able to determine if something is amiss or if our hearts are as they should be.
Will our answers reveal that we love this world too much and are clinging to it more than the hope of being with Christ? Will our answers show us that our relationship with Christ is not what it should be, and perhaps we are carrying around a shame about ourselves that makes us want His arrival to come just a little later when we have set things right? Will our answers uncover some doubt in us, as we struggle with whether or not we actually believe He is coming back?
Whatever your response is to what I am sharing, I want you to hear the call that is on all of our lives as Christians:
- We should be eagerly awaiting Christ’s return. While we are already saved, the consummation of that salvation will come when Christ returns, and for this we can rejoice.
- We should live as sojourners in this world, not holding it too tightly as if it is our life. In other words, while we are here, are we living as those who know this is not our home and that we are to be about our Father’s business? Are we seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness?
- We should be loving God with our whole heart, soul and mind. If we recognize that our faith and love for God has become “luke warm”, we need not conclude that this is the way it will always be. God is always calling us into a deeper and more vibrant relationship with Him and He will draw us close as we draw close to Him.
- We should spend as much time in God’s Word as we can, for faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word of God (Romans 10:17). It is by God’s Word and the moving of the Holy Spirit in us that we can affirm the truth of God’s Word including the promised return of Jesus.
At the end of my devotional, I committed myself to the care of God and asked Him to work in me that above all else I would cherish Him and eagerly, longingly await His return even more than I do now. I believe He is glorified by such prayers and understands how distracted we can be by this life. He offers grace and mercy for that too, which are just more reasons for which He is worthy of all our praise.
Come Lord Jesus, quickly come.
Rob