He is Coming!

Imagine you are a child and that your father works far from home or is in the military and therefore is home very rarely. But then when he comes he will bring so many gifts as to completely compensate for his absence.

Then your mother tells you that your father is coming two weeks from today.

What will you do?

Will you start relaxing and oversleeping and neglecting your duties because your solution is coming? Will you start bullying your siblings and neighbor’s children because your soldier father is coming?

Of course not.

I am sure you will clean all your clothes even before they get dirty. You will arrange your room as perfectly as you can.

You will be the best sibling around. And you will be the most obedient child, doing all the chores before needing to be told.

Even your neighbors will know that something is about to happen as you will behave and talk differently.

Another thing is that that two weeks will be longer than two years due to your longing.

We believe in Christ and hopefully walk (or have walked) with Him.

When He ascended, He promised that He is coming for us. In fact He used the word ‘soon’.

Where is our longing?

But today I essentially want to shortly address one aspect of that advent.

Many times in history we have had one or the other prophet giving a date when they know or believe Jesus is coming back.

What then happens? People leave their jobs. They leave their studies (I remember when I was sitting my A levels some students boycotted exams for that reason). They sell their property (as if they will need money the other side).

In short they stop living.

Is that what Christ taught? Is it what He expects of us?

Of course not. No wonder He gave three parables about the same in one chapter, Matthew 25.

Three things stand out.

One is that we do not and will not know when He is coming. We could know how close He is but we must be prepared to long for longer.

Second is that we should be busy. In other words we should have one eye on his soon coming and the other on living here.

Third is that we might miss Him if we become too consumed with looking for him.

The gist of this short post is that Christ is the one who will put a stop to the world by His coming and that He is not asking us to help Him out.

But He is coming soon. That is not in doubt.

And my longing for that should not be blunted by anything.

Am I pleasing Him?