Are you Ready for His Return (pt. 4)
The third important truth we learned about being Ready
for His Return this past Sunday, is that in order to please God (1 Thess. 4:1),
we must be men and women who put our hope in the Return of Jesus (1 Thess.
4:14-17).
The reason this is an important aspect of ensuring our
readiness for the return of Christ is because it reveals to us the condition of
our heart, and what is most important to us in this life. And as believers, if we are not living with a powerful Hope and expectation
of the Return of Jesus, it will certainly be reflected in what is most
important to us in the life we are currently living.
It can be likened to a military wife, whose husband
has been deployed overseas in a war-stricken country. Everyday she is praying
for the protection of her husband, the father of her children, that he will not
only be safe and protected from harms way, but that he will return home soon.
This is the type of hope that we are talking about here. There is a sense of
urgency linked together with this hope. There is an urgency that you want Jesus
to return and deliver you from this war-stricken, evil world that we live in,
and there is also an urgency because Jesus is the great love of your life, that
you cannot wait to see face to face.
Read Philippians 3:20-21 and meditate upon what Paul is eagerly waiting for as he lives his life out on planet earth. How do your aspirations and passions in life line up with what Paul is expressing in this passage? Read and meditate upon Matthew 6:19-33, and ask yourself, "What is most important to me right now?"