He's Coming

Read: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.

                                                                                                          1 Thessalonians 4:16

     Before one of my sisters and now brother-in-law got engaged, they were in a very interesting situation. They entertained a long distance relationship – he was in Ohio, and she was here in Virginia. Because they lived so far apart, they could only see each other when he could get time off work, and it was always planned. That proved difficult for him to surprise her when they finally got engaged, so he had to plan a surprise visit. There were signs that he was going to propose sometime soon – she knew he was having the ring made, he wasn’t going to be able to take an “official” trip down for another couple months, etc. – but my sister didn’t know exactly when it was going to be. She knew he was going to come (and that it would probably be soon), but she didn’t know when it was going to happen, or where she would be when it did. As a result, she tried to prepare herself in every way possible so she would be ready when he showed up. Everything worked as he had planned, so when my brother-in-law showed up to propose to my sister, she was completely shocked to see him. Of course, she said yes.

     That reminded me so much of the fact that one day Jesus is coming back. We will have to stand before Him, and we don’t know when it will be. There are signs that Jesus is coming as He said He would, and it all points to the fact that it will be soon. However, we don’t know where we will be or what we will be doing when He comes. It is up to us to make sure that we are ready. We must be on guard and be prepared for Him to come at any moment.

When you are tempted to sin, remember that Jesus could come back the instant you begin to partake. The moment you stop looking for His coming could be the moment He returns to take us Home. The day you decide to stop witnessing for Him could be the day He surprises us with the sound of the trumpet. My sister never stopped expectantly waiting for her future fiancé to come and ask her to marry him. She listened for changes in his tone of voice to indicate that maybe he was on his way down. She thought through scenarios that could help her be prepared for when he came. Even on the day he came, though she was surprised, certain abnormalities made her think that maybe that was the day. Don’t be caught unprepared for Christ’s coming. Spend your days in anticipation for His coming so that when we see Him, we will be glad that He finally came and not sad that He came so soon.

Quote of the day: “We are not looking for something to happen, but for Someone to come.”   

– Vance Havner