There he was waiting on me—again. His nose was pressed up against the glass of our storm door. A patch of fog had formed under his nose. When he spied my car heading up the driveway to our home he was practically halfway out the door and bounding down the steps.
Across the yard he runs,
arms waving high and sporting million dollar smile. For him, this is better
than winning the lottery, because daddy is home. He meets me in the middle of
the driveway and I roll down the window. “I want to ride,” he says. So, he
climbs in, sits in my lap, and we ride around the neighborhood. “I’m glad you
got me Daddy.” There is no greater feeling in the world that this. I have made
his day and he has made mine. It was well worth the wait.
The Lord has taught me
many lessons through my children, one of which is the value of waiting on
purpose. The way my son anticipates my arrival is the same excitement and
expectancy we are to have when it comes to the return of Christ. As Martin
Luther has said, “We ought to live as though Christ died yesterday, rose from
the grave today, and is coming back tomorrow.”
Examine the New Testament
and you’ll discover that the apostles were practically on their tip-toes
awaiting Christ to come back, the reason being Jesus said, “Therefore you also
must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect”
(Matt. 24:44).
·
Live
self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our
blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus
Christ (Titus 2:12-13).
·
You also, be
patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. (James
5:8)
·
Children, it is
the last hour . . . abide in him, so that when he appears we may have
confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming (1 John 2:18, 28)
·
Yet a little
while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry (Heb. 10:37)
This is known as the “doctrine
of imminence,” and as it relates to Bible prophecy, it simply means that the
return of Jesus Christ for the Church can happen at any moment. We as
Christians remain on alert 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In short, we must be
rapture ready.
One of the greatest
reasons why Christ didn’t reveal the time of His appearing is because if the
lost knew they would be tempted to postpone any decisions about Christ until
the last minute so they could sin up to the day of His return then get Hell
insurance. Conversely, if believers knew they would be tempted to live without
any evangelistic urgency or moral purity.
C.S. Lewis has written, “We
must never speak to simple, excitable people about the Day of Christ’s return
without emphasizing again and again the utter impossibility of prediction . . .
His teaching on the subject quite clearly consisted of three propositions: (1)
That He will certainly return; (2) That we cannot possibly find out when; (3)
And that therefore we must always be ready for Him. Note that because we cannot
precisely predict the moment, we must be ready at all moments. . . The
schoolboy does not know which part of his lesson he will be made to translate:
that is why he must be prepared to translate any passage in the assignment. The
sentry does not know at what time an enemy will attack, or an officer will
inspect, his post: that is why he must keep awake all the time. The Return is
wholly unpredictable. You cannot guess it.
If you could, one chief purpose for which it was foretold would be
frustrated. And God’s purposes are not so easily frustrated as that.”[1]
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