"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words" (I Thessalonians 4:16-18 NASB)
If you are a Christian, how many times have you read that passage of scripture with amazement at the coming events of our Lord Jesus Christ. Does it excite you? Does it raise the "goose bumps" on your arms? Does it cause you to reflect on life in this world and think about how much different, how much better and more joyful it will be when He returns?
Or does it bring you sadness? Does it concern you that you have children you have yet to raise? Does it interfere with your professional ideals? Does it bother you that this event in "eternity" could happen any day now? So, think about it and ask yourself which of these two paragraphs you ascribe to.
Excited or hoping He will delay. Do you have a racing heart when you discuss the second coming of the Lord or do you feel like you have more life left to live on this earth? Well if you are "EXCITED" as I am, then "Praise The Lord, coming quickly Lord Jesus!" However, if you are concerned with the prospect of not seeing fully, your professional career or your children go to college or get married and give you grandchildren then you are not taking the time to "develop" your relationship with the Christ. Oh, you have your salvation, and in the event He returns soon you are safe, but do you want to complete life here on earth with a "less than excited" anticipation of Jesus' return? Do you not understand that the eternity that He has promised is far superior to the, possibly 70 plus years you get here?
In the book of Genesis the Godhead said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness..." (Gen. 1:26). And then in Genesis 2:7 "...the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." Do you realize that NOWHERE in the Bible does it state that God "breathed life" into any other creature. Doesn't that make you feel special? Because you are!
You, in the image and likeness of God, have an eternity that is fixed in heaven, at the feet of our Savior, in worship and praise, living eternity on "streets of gold" where there will be no more tears or pain.
Our family had a close friend named Christine who opened her door one night to someone she did not consider a stranger and before that night was over, her life was gone and she stood in the presence of God Almighty as a result of her quest for His salvation. She didn't plan this day, nor did any of her family believe that this day had arrived. She "forever" talked about the Lord and how she "longed" for His return.
Christine is just one of millions and millions of "followers of Christ" who patiently wait on His return, not knowing if they will see Him before He comes "thundering" through the clouds.
If you are not excited about current events or things that point to the return of Christ; if you still have one foot "too firmly planted" in this world, let me suggest to you that you take the time to better understand your reward in heaven if you sincerely belong to Jesus Christ. Oh, don't misunderstand my zeal. While you are here, you have a very serious job to do. It just may be that the person you sit next to at work has no earthly idea about Jesus and He has put you there simply for the purpose of sharing His Gospel with that person. I don't know about you but I don't want to have to stand before God and try to explain to Him why I did not share the Love of Christ with that person. It's real easy. Just a simple question to get the conversation started. "What do you think of this man called Christ?" Our God is depending on you or He wouldn't have put you there.
Dave
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