the waiting game

My husband is currently making French toast.  On a Tuesday morning!  He says that he’s just using up stale bread, but I believe that he is the most wonderful man on the face of the planet and he simply loves being good to me.  I love this guy!

Well, I’ve officially enrolled myself in the waiting game.  Even though I’m only 35 weeks and 3 days along, my gut feeling is “be prepared for anything!”.  I might be a little anxious.  Just a little.  But I think that it’s better to live with an awareness of what could happen than to live in ignorance and be caught off guard.

Wait a second—doesn’t that apply to the Christian’s life?  “..it’s better to live with an awareness of what could happen (i.e. Christ returning like a thief in the night) than to live in ignorance and be caught off guard”?  I’m reminded of Jesus’ words in Matthew 24 regarding the very subject of His return.

No One Knows That Day and Hour
36 "But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son,  but the Father only.
37  As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
38  For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark,
39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left.
41  Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left.
42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.
43  But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.
44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
45 "Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time?
46  Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.
47 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.
48 But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed,'
49 and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards,
50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know (Matt 24:36-50, ESV , emphasis mine).

How can we really be prepared for the coming of our Lord?  Vv 45-46 state that we must be wise and faithful to carry out all that God has appointed to us.  Come to think of it, I don’t think I have really been living with a daily awareness that my Lord could be coming at any given moment of the day.  I’m reminded of a previous post I wrote entitled “a faithless fig tree”.  I don’t want to be like that fig tree and have my Lord look for fruit and find none. 

I challenge you, followers of Christ, to seriously evaluate the state of your lives.  Are you living for pleasure (for yourself), or are you living in a constant state of readiness for the coming of Christ (for the Lord)?  Ask the Lord what he requires of you, and he will be faithful to reveal all.  Don’t be like that fig tree—caught unaware and cursed by the Lord God himself.

How thankful I am for the whole process of pregnancy and the conviction that I need to be anticipating Christ’s return with greater joy and fervor than I have anticipating my own child.