Hebrews 10:36-37

Hebrews 10:36-37

You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.”

There are numerous points in the Bible where it is mentioned that Christ will be returning to gather up his people very soon. The words above were written thousands of years ago and at the time, the writer no doubt believed that Christ could be returning at any moment. Thousands of years later, we too believe that same thing…we believe that at any moment in our day, Christ could descend from heaven, gather up his people (the believers), and leave this world for ruin. Imagine if someone could have lived continuously from the time that Christ walked the earth until this very day…a person thousands of years old. To this person, messages like the one above might get a little old and start to lose its impact. After all, it would have been thousands of years of life waiting, and still no Savior returning from the heavens. But I think the text above keys on two important points: 1) Our sense of time is much different than God’s; and 2) We don’t know when OUR life in this world is going to be snuffed out. On the first point, what we see as a long time here in this life, is going to appear like a blink of the eye when compared to eternity. Just try and name one thing on this earth that is truly eternal…everything has a beginning and an end. So we struggle with truly understanding the concept of eternity. And the second point…who can say when their life is going to come to a close? We have this false sense of control over how long we will live. Most of us expect to live to old age, going through the various stages a young adult, mid-life, and finally glide into the senior years. But we really have no idea. And that is why it is so important to remain firm in our faith…for when our number is called, there will be no time to start tiding-up our belief system. There will be no time to “suddenly” find Jesus or somehow get a mulligan for the path we chose. I am confident that once the lights go out here, it’s game time and we stand before the Lord, called to give account for the life that we have lived. And for all of us sinners, we stand guilty, condemned, and due for punishment. But for the believers, for the ones that know and are known by Christ…for the ones that have a true, genuine, and firm faith in Jesus as the one Savior that makes all things new and washes the sinful white as snow…they are going to be just fine. As believers, we have a faith in this life that makes us  a part of Christ’s family. When we stand before God, Jesus says “I got this one. This ones with me, he’s a part of the family.” Let that sink in for a minute…when it all comes to a close, when death comes knocking, when the lights turn out, we rest in the arms of Christ. Sounds completely perfect. May we remain firm in our faith this day and every day to come, while we wait for our chance to see the Savior face to face. To God alone be the glory!