Sunday May 17th 2020

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“And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11). Paul encouraged Christians to think about the time they have left in this world. There is no time to waste. We must get busy and stay busy until the Lord returns. 

 

There will come a time at the end of our lives (or the end of time) when all the preparations that can possibly be made, must be accomplished. When we see the Lord coming in the clouds on the Day of Judgment it will be too late to start getting prepared.

 

The good works we were created to do (Ephesians 2:10) won’t be finished until the Lord comes or we leave this world (Revelation 14:13). We don’t know when Christ will return. Therefore, now is the time to be alert and diligent in doing what needs to be done.

 

As long as we remain in this world there will be a sense of urgency. For those who are preparing themselves and getting ready to meet the Lord, there is great anticipation. How often Paul expressed this in his writings. “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20), and “...eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:7). 

 

This eagerness will be true for any child of God, even a newborn Christian, but the longer we live and the older we get, the more earnestly we anticipate our Lord’s return. What rejoicing there will be. What satisfaction when He calls our name, because our name is “...written in heaven" (Luke 10:20).  

 

Jesus admonished His disciples in Mark 13:35-37. “Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming--in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning—lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!"