04/06/2022
We often say “come quickly Lord Jesus”, but do we watch intently for Him to actually come after we have said this? It is common for people to go through the motions of their religion without really living out its faithful expectation. We pray and then work our fingers to the bone trying to make that prayer come true of our own accord; never looking once for God to answer us. Many of us stand in awe before a majestic mountain range, but do we see God in it… even as an afterthought? In fact we should live our lives as watchmen; ever vigilant, straining to see the Lord coming, and cupping our hands to our ears to hear His voice.
“I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.”
Habakkuk 2:1 ESV
As children we have an incredible sense of immediacy, and anticipation. Don’t each of us remember laying in our beds on Christmas Eve listening for the sound of sleigh bells, or for Santa rustling presents in the other room? What about sitting on a riverbank watching a small red and white fishing bobber, and waiting for it to bounce, and then go under? Did we ever not expect Santa to come, or that we wouldn’t catch a fish? Well this is the same unwavering hope we should have engrained in our faith…
“Wait for and confidently expect the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for and confidently expect the Lord.”
Psalms 27:14 AMP
In the days leading up to the arrival of Jesus, the Jews wanted the Messiah to come, but when He finally did arrive it proved to be more of an inconvenience than an exciting event for the majority of them. Well friends He is coming again, and are we setting ourselves up to welcome Him just as the Jews did when He came the first time? Are we really prepared, and searching the sky for Him, or just talking about it with our friends in church, or in conversation on Ascension Day? Will our ministers and pastors recognize Him, and more importantly, will we?
“He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.”
John 1:10 ESV
Even John the Baptist said he didn’t recognize Jesus…
“I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.””
John 1:31 ESV
So today we should mount the outer wall, and man the watchtowers. We should not simply think that He will come one day, but that today is certainly the day, tonight is the night, and this is the very moment. We must be prepared to receive the news like the shepherds tending their flocks!
“And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.””
Luke 2:9, 11, 15 ESV
Let’s look to the sky today, let’s let the slightest movement in the clouds cause us to catch our breath in anticipation.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for sending your Son Jesus to redeem us, and we thank you for your promise of His return to resurrect us, to bring us before you, and to claim His eternal bride. We long for His coming, and search the skies for the earliest sight of Him. Our anticipation is climactic father, and our excitement will only be full, and complete, when He has arrived. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who created all things with the foreknowledge of Christ’s coming, and coming again. We praise your name for the grace that flows through Him, for your mercy towards us, and for your radiant love made perfect in Him, your Son Jesus. Wash us clean in His blood Father, prepare our hearts in anticipation of His coming, and help us to receive Him with great joy when He arrives. Lift us up in Christ, hear our voices singing in celebration as we are brought before you, and then seat us eternally at your table with Him. In His holy name we pray these things, and with our eyes fixed upon heaven we shout with jubilation… Come quickly Lord Jesus; even now come!
““Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.””
Revelation 22:12-16 ESV
Rich Forbes