By Andy Coticchio
We are waiting, Lord, and not always patiently and obediently for Your soon return. We are waiting, faithfully and eagerly knowing You will return as You have said. We are waiting for the joy that we know we will have in Your eternal presence. Yet we know not the day nor time, and therefore, we often wait anxiously.
So, what are we to do in the meantime? Just sitting around waiting is not what You had in mind for us. As Your children we can do many things:
Praying: In all things, at all times, we should be turning to the Lord and seeking Him out in prayer. Because it draws us closer to Him. Because we need it, and He wants us to. Because it is the way to learn our Father’s will and purposes for the time remaining to us here. Because Jesus did so in His earthly ministry and He is our role model to follow.
Proclaiming: In all things at all times we should be teaching, talking and telling others about Jesus. What He has done in our lives, what He wishes to do in theirs; the blessing of grace, the bestowal of salvation; the peace of mind, the calm of heart, the warmth of love. All from Him as from an unending fountain. How easy it is to have this immeasurable and unmerited gift to any who turn to Jesus, trusting in Him alone as Savior, through grace by faith.
Preparing: In all things, at all times, we should be living as if today is the day of His soon return for His Church. The end of our beginning, and the beginning of our eternity in the Divine Presence. The eternal state for all His children. It is our hope and desire that He will return for all we know and love. He wants the world, it is His desire that none remain outside His grasp. Although that may not be as it will turn out, should we not try to reach this outcome as the Lord’s heart desires?
There is so much to do, and there may be so very little time to do it. The world appears to be slipping away at an ever-quickening pace, even as we struggle to slow the tide and reap a harvest blossoming white around us.
So run the race, fix your eyes on Jesus and run as if to win. Because win is what we will ultimately do, even on those days, even on most days, when it surely feels we will not. We will, because He will prevail and we are His children. We will, because…Jesus is coming soon!