Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Romans 13:11-12 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand.
WAKE UP! THE LAST DAY IS NEAR
There are days that we feel like we don't get anything done, and that can be very frustrating. But at the conclusion of the day at the very least you can say, "I am one day closer to heaven." This is what our Lord is talking about in our text when He says, For now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. If this was true when this was written nearly 2000 years ago, it is even more true today. We are closer and closer to our eternal rescue with the coming of Christ.
The Old Testament believers were a group that were watching and waiting for the coming of the Messiah. Their worship was geared toward that, and for them each day meant that they were one day closer to having the Messiah among them. We as New Testament believers scan the horizon as well, watching and waiting for the second coming of Jesus. Each day, each hour, each minute we are closer to our goal of going home to heaven.
Yet even with a keen anticipation of Jesus coming, there is the temptation to fall asleep. As the years wore on the Old Testament people became tired of waiting. By the time that Jesus came, He was born in obscurity. Sure there were the Wise Men and Simeon and Anna who were looking, but for the most part people had fallen asleep. Most did not even know what they were looking for. Some were so far off that they viewed Jesus as a competitor for their power. Secular leaders such as King Herod and religious leaders such as the Pharisees and Sadducees were asleep when Jesus did come. Others heard what He said in the Sermon on the Mount and other discourses and didn't like what He said. They said, "These are hard sayings," and wouldn't listen anymore. Jesus came the first time to find the majority of people spiritually asleep.
Christians who are awake and alert eagerly anticipate the Advent of our King, who came the first time to lay down His life for us, and who will come again in triumph to take us to be with Him forever.
