Matthew 24:44
Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Keep Looking Up
Jesus goes through some things that will occur just prior to His second coming, like great tumult and distress on the Earth, signs in the heavens, fear in mankind’s heart. And then He tells us to be looking up for His return as our redemption draws near (Luke 21:20-28). Elsewhere, Jesus says that He will come again when nobody expects Him to, so we must be ready at all times for His appearing (Matt. 24:44). Do we live as if He could come back today? Do we live each day as if it’ll be the very day of His return? I don’t know about you, but I know I should.
The Day or the Hour
Jesus was asked just before He ascended into heaven about when He would come again, and basically He told them it was none of their business (Acts 1:6-7). I have thought about this before, and I believe it’s better that we don’t know because knowing, my own human nature, I’d tend to let up on some things and then try to turn up the spiritual things just before Jesus came back. The idea is that we should live every day as if it’ll be our last on Earth. None of us know the day or the hour of His return (Matt. 25:13), and if someone claims that they do, they are either deceived or trying to deceive others. That’s why we’re told to keep on the lookout at all times (Luke 21:36).
Behold He’ll Come Quickly
Nowhere in Scripture does Jesus say that He’ll delay His coming. In fact, He said His coming will be like the lightning that comes from the east and is visible in the west (Matt. 24:27). When Jesus told John “behold I come quickly” (Rev. 22:12), He didn’t mean that He was going to come quickly or in just a short while or even in John’s day because that was over 2000 years ago. What I believe He meant and what most Bible scholars say is that He will come quickly, in an instant, like the twinkling of an eye (1 Cor. 15:52), which takes only a few hundredths of a second. Jesus is coming again, this we know for sure, but when, we don’t know. Could it be soon? Yes, but how soon? I have no idea. All I know is that we should be living every day as if He could come back at any moment.
A Closing Prayer
Father, only You know when the day of Jesus’ return will be, so please help me focus on each and every day and to live it as if today were the day of His return, and in Jesus’ precious name I pray.
Amen
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