December 20 - Response, part 2

December 20 – Response, part 2

Be holy. “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23) Our holiness does not come from our own activity. We are failures. We sin, we make poor decisions, we live terrible lives no matter how hard we try to be good. We simply can’t do it on our own. We do not make ourselves holy. God does that. We have to give ourselves up to Him.

Be obedient. “…to keep this commandment without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Timothy 6:14) Our obedience to God, to whatever it is that He asks of us is commanded. It is not a suggestion. We are asked to do many things and as we wait for Christ to return, God calls us to unconditional obedience.

Be joyful. “while we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:13). Are you excited about His return or do you dread that day? So many authors and preachers bring doom and gloom to the return of Christ by focusing on the terrors that will come to earth. We have to be so careful not to buy into that. While they teach from scripture, they are teaching false information to us. We are not to be terrified, we are to look forward to that day. Jesus Christ is returning! He is coming back to bring salvation! The time of struggle will be over, our lives wil be transformed and we will stand in the throne room of the Almighty God. Be joyful!

Be constant. “And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.” (1 John 2:28) I can only imagine that the early disciples who expected Christ to come back to them during their lifetimes, especially after the destruction of Jerusalem, were crushed when they began dying and realized that Christ’s timing was not in accordance with their expectations. Generations and generations have come and gone, each one expecting and hoping for Christ’s return.

I had an older evangelist friend who was a close friend to God. He told me one day that he knew Christ would return before He went to heaven. It was a very difficuilt day for me when I found that he had died. Christ hadn’t returned, what Tommy KNEW to be true was true only for him. It wasn’t true for me. But that didn’t mean that I gave up waiting and expecting Christ to come back. All that it meant was that I continued to pray for Christ’s return.

Today, the watchwords are: Be holy, be obedient, be joyous, be constant. Look forward to the Advent of Christ’s return.