Watching and Waiting.

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour of the Son of Man’s coming.” -Matthew 25:13

I’ll never forget the first time my sister Bekah came home from college. Her flight landed late at night and the airport was over an hour away from our house so my parents went to pick her up while I stayed home with my older brother and younger sister.

I was only 9 years old.

I couldn’t wait to see Bekah. So much so, that I decided to stay awake and greet her when they got home, despite the late hour of their arrival.

My brother wasn’t too keen on this plan as that meant sacrificing his precious sleep and my little sister was only 2 so my Mom had already put her to bed before they left.

I alone stayed awake. Our living room was directly across from our front door, so I carried a book, my two favorite pillows and my fleece strawberry shortcake blanket to the couch and set up my post. After turning on the lamp in the living room, I was ready.

But as the hours passed by, my eyes grew heavier and heavier.

I didn’t realize I’d fallen asleep until Bekah was waking me up.
She didn’t care though. She was just happy I was there to greet her-
and was so excited that she was home.

In Luke 12, Jesus says this-  “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning,  like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.  It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.  It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

We may not know the exact hour of Jesus’ return, just like I didn’t know the exact hour my sister would be home. But we do know he’s coming back.

And as he warned us in Matthew 24, and Luke 21, we can recognize the kingdom of God is near by the signs of the times.

He said that in the end there will be earthquakes and famine, wars and rumors of wars.

Friends, those things are happening.

The earthquakes in Mexico…. the famine in Somalia… the war in Ukraine….

You would think these events would be causing Christians to talk more about the Lord’s return. But strangely, it seems like most Christian’s are hesitant to talk about Jesus’ coming, even uncomfortable.

This shouldn’t be so.

Luke 21:28 says-

There is nothing in the world that should make us more excited, or full of more hope and peace than the fact that Jesus is coming back to put an end to suffering and sin. And he’s coming back quickly! He promised us this in Revelation 22.

I fell asleep before my sister got home all those years ago, not because I was worried, but because I was at peace.

So too can we rest in the fact that our Lord is coming back for us.

Hebrews 9:28 says-
“So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

Are you eagerly waiting the Savior’s arrival, or does the reality of his coming make you anxious, even scared?

The only reason you should fear his return is if you aren’t ready for it.
And the only way you can be ready- is to repent of your sins and look to Jesus for your hope and salvation.

He saves- and keeps- all those who are his, and he promises to be with us- to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:20).

I couldn’t stay awake for my sisters arrival the first time she came home from college. Call it a lack of strength or a lack of will power- I just call it a lack of fear and anxiety. My lamp was lit, my heart was right, and I was eagerly awaiting her return.

She had promised to come back. And I rested in that promise.
So when she came through the door, and woke me up-
I wasn’t alarmed.

I was ready.

“Watching and waiting, looking above- filled with His goodness, lost in His love.”