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So, you have heard it for hundreds of years, that Jesus is coming again? And for all these years, the more your wait, the longer He delays. You feel tempted to stop the wait and ‘enjoy’ your life? Perhaps, He won’t come after all, doubts have set in. You want to return to fishing like Peter did in frustration after he had denied the Master?
You know what, Peter never really returned to fishing. He trudged on after his initial false starts to become the first evangelist of the church, winning 3,000 souls at just one crusade, still a record even in the contemporary church. He proceeded to become the leader of the church. Because the Lord fortified Him. The Lord never gave up on Peter despite his denying Him. He recertified Peter after He rose from the dead. He will also deal likewise with you and hopes to see you at your duty post when He returns, as He surely will.
Any wonder The Word For Today devotional urges: ‘Don’t sit around listening for a bugle call or looking for a rapture cloud. Don’t quit your job, and don’t set a date. Instead use the time to get your acts together. Live every day like it’s your last, but work like Jesus isn’t coming back for another 10 years (or more). Shake your “salt” and shine your “light” wherever you go (see Matthew 5:13-16). Remain balanced, cheerful, pleasant, committed and stable, anticipating the day of His return. And if you’re not sure you’re ready, get your ticket immediately. As long as they’re available, they’re free. But if you’re wise you won’t wait! What good is a ticket when the event is over?
‘Today accept Jesus as your Saviour and be ready when He returns.’
That’s exactly what you must do, as we wait…
And you must not join the army of self-proclaming Christians, who relish propaganda and evil tidings about real or contrived assault on the faithful by jihadists or whoever. Even though not entirely false or true, I won’t help such trumpeters to create fear all around. Rather, I will ask you pointedly, talebearer, to tell the faithful how much of a ‘believer’ you are or have been.
If you are a believer, what really do you believe? If you are a believer in Christ, as you purport, to what extent do you obey Him and live by His word?
I have a problem with some so-called believers because of their alarmist inclination. Instead of doing the right thing and letting your light shine on the ‘darkness’ of those we tag unbelievers, we allow this darkness to submerge our light by spreading falsehood. Is light not more powerful than darkness? The devil is ever on duty (John 10:10) setting traps and devouring glorious destinies but God pass dem.
When Paul was brimming with misguided zeal against the Saints, did the Lord not prove Himself mightier on Paul’s way to Damascus? When Sennacherib boasted that he would decimate God’s people, did God not rain bombs from the skies? Who made Nebuchadnezzar a human monkey for seven years? Did he not confess the Lordship of Jehovah after serving out his divine punishment?
Has this God changed that He can no longer defend His people? No, dearly beloved. We changed, not God. We went in pursuit of mundane things and pushed our God to the back seat. That is why He seems so far away from us but will readily return, if His people who are called by His name return, humble themselves in prayer and obedience and call upon Him. His hands are not too short to touch us, neither are His ears deaf to hear our cries, but we have put sin in-between us. That is why much calamity has befallen us.
Dearly beloved, let us flood the world with righteousness; let us resist the devil and watch him flee. That goon still holding Leah Sharibu captive is not the problem, we are. Even if he is the problem, he is too small for the mighty one who opened the Red Sea like a book and caused a highway for His people to escape bondage. When the Egyptians stubbornly pursued after them, you know what happened: The ‘book’ that was opened closed back on them and they all drowned.
Do not be afraid of their faces, beloved, for He that is with us is greater than he that is with them. You wonder at the fate of Sister Leah? You ask where God is while all this is going on? Does that smack of weakness or strength to you? Methinks it is strength. I very much know saving Leah is not a hard thing for the Lord. His silence is for a reason and for His glory. Did not David dare the Lion’s den? And Meshack, Shedrack and Abednego? The fourth man that appeared in the fiery furnace and stopped it from consuming the three Hebrew boys is still able. He that shut the mouth of lions from devouring Daniel is still as active. He put Goliath’s head in youngster David’s hands, as no uncircumcised Philistine can defy the Lord’s army and live. Enlist in this army NOW. The Lord fights with strange tactics and weapons that please Him alone; ours to wait for an answer of peace.
Fret not for Leah, it shall certainly end in praise here or hereafter. Just stand on the Lord’s side and see His salvation.
Those who hate and mock at God have a date with His impending inescapable wrath. It is in their own interest to turn a new leaf now and ignore the false hope of virgins to ravish after death. Nothing could be more hilarious.
Nevertheless, a Christian is not one who doesn’t face challenges. He is not a churchgoer or one whose name is Christian but one who lives the LIFE so that after he sleeps, he shall wake up on that glorious side. Shalom.
