06/07/2020
Am I to live each day faithfully to serve Jesus Christ in this world, or to rise up, strap on my sandals, and prepare to depart this place right now with Him? Most believers are satisfied with worshipping Him here today, and serving our Lord by delivering His gospel each day until His return. Yet for a few, who have had a closer physical encounter with Him like Paul did, one that has placed them face to face with Christ, and surrounded them with His very real glory, joy, and presence, this choice between serving today, and choosing eternity, is real, and difficult to make.
“I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.”
Philippians 1:23-24 ESV
Hearing the faithful ending their prayers by saying “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” I often wonder how fervently they are calling out to Him. I have heard pastors and saints alike say that they want Jesus to come, but just not right now. I don’t judge the faith of these believers because although they are true in their belief, they might not have been in his immediate physical presence yet, or perhaps they haven’t completed God’s will for them here, and have been told to remain as Paul was.
“He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
Revelation 22:20 KJV
But, for those who are truly tortured as they pray these words, just as Paul was tormented by them, and are holding out their quivering arms with their fare in hand... pleading to be with Jesus right now, to be with Him before they exhale their very next breath... for these saints it is a struggle to wait, and nothing in this world is holdIng them back as they cry out “even so, come”. Paul was one of these because He had experienced a physical encounter with Jesus, and tasted what awaited him there, but he found it necessary to remain as he continued to deliver the gospel, and tend to Christ’s sheep (as Peter was told to do). Though he longed to be once again with Christ, the length of his life, like ours, was to be determined by God, to whom we all belong.
“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 KJV
We belong to God, and only He knows the day and time that Jesus will return, and likewise, only he has numbered our days according to His plan for us. Yes, only God calls us home, and only He tells us when we are to remain.
“Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”
Psalm 139:16 ESV
Our bodies are His temple, and we are meant to keep them Holy. In this way we might plead for God to call us home, but we adhere to His will, and know that we will be told when it is time for us to walk that way with Jesus... we will know the precise moment God has planned for us. So as Paul longed to be with Jesus, his mission was to stay and minister to others, such as the Philippians. Listen to his words...
“Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.”
Philippians 1:25-26 ESV
Why some are chosen to experience a physical interaction with Christ is a mystery. Perhaps it is because their faith is weak, and needs to have a touch from Him, like Thomas’s did, or maybe their calling is so difficult, or demanding, that they need more strength than others, like Paul. Whatever it is, it brings with it a daily struggle to remain in the world, a taste of something that only a reformed addict might fully understand. A longing that never goes away, and is only a breath away as we desire to be in His presence once more. Paul was a man torn between two worlds, the physical, and the spiritual. On the road to Damascus he stood with Jesus on the bridge between them, and so he was tasked with beginning each day listening for that small still voice as he determined which way he was being called to walk... back into the world, or on into the presence of the divine.
If you rise each day knowing this is exactly where you are meant to be then count this as a blessing, and go about your day serving the Lord peacefully in your faith, but if you are one of those who has had a supernatural encounter with Jesus, and wakes up begging the question “Today Lord?”, and hearing time and time again “Not yet!”, then know that there is something about today that your experience on that bridge with Christ, and anticipation of being there with Him again, is meant to fuel. This constant, and overwhelming, desire to be with Jesus gives you the strength to pick up your cross, and walk another day in the world with Him.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for your Son Jesus Christ who stands at our doorways and knocks, but I also thank you Lord for those certain times when He knocks some of us down, or rescues us from death, and surrounds us with His presence. I thank you for those you call to walk peacefully in their faith, and also for those whose calling requires more; a special encounter, a dispensation that only a physical touch can bring. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who calls each of us according to your purpose. I thank you for your children in faith, those you have matured in their walk with you, and the few you have chosen to take captive in faith. We praise your name for each knock at the door, every small still voice, and each bold encounter with you and Jesus. Hear the prayers of your saints, and be merciful a Father. Hear also the plea of those who have tasted your presence, and be gentle in telling them “not today.” or “not yet.” as they beg to experience you again. We worship you Lord, and abide in Christ as we work to perfect our faith. Call us each by name Father, and help us as we come to you now, and abide with you forevermore.
“How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.
Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”
Psalm 139:17-18, 23-24 ESV
Rich Forbes