“Blessed are those who watch for my return, for they will be ready.” (Revelations 16:5)
Happy Friday everyone. I don’t know if you can see over my shoulder there and down the sidewalk, but there are leaves of gold that have fallen onto the sidewalks in my neighborhood. Seems like an early fall. We are just now entering into August. As I woke up this morning and saw that, I was reminded of a verse that talks about recognizing signs and perhaps, maybe in our culture right now and in our world and the things that we’re hearing about, whether it be all of the natural disasters that are happening throughout the world, the political strife, the infighting, the wars, what are we to make of all of that?
And we’re reminded of these words from Jesus. It comes from Matthew 24, and He says, “Now learn a lesson from the fig tree, when its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout. You know that the summer is near. In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know his return is very near. Right at the door.”
You know, what Jesus is reminding us is that when we see signs, we’re not to be afraid. We are to take note. We are to sit up. We are to watch and to be reminded of Jesus’ promise that He’s going to return. And in many ways, that should really kind of inspire us all the more. Not only to make sure that we are ready, but also to call others to be ready for His return as well.
You know, in Revelations 16:5, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who watch for my return, for they will be ready.” You know, when I think about that, and I think about the fact of having Jesus come and our nakedness or our sinfulness forgiven and cleansed, our shame relieved, what a great day that’s going to be. That’s the day we’re looking forward to as Christians, and that’s the day we want to invite others to be able to accept, and to believe in Jesus so that they, too, will be ready for that final day. We do so with joy. We do so with confidence, and we do so without fear.
Prayer
Dear Jesus, as we look around in this world and we hear news, and we hear the reports and the rumors of wars and actual wars and natural disasters and so many things that you told us were coming, Lord, we can be terrified at times, and we can be very afraid and not really understand what that means.
But in Your grace and in Your wisdom, You shared to us exactly what we need to be aware of, that when we see signs of different things happening around us, it should point us back to that reminder that Your promise is to return. And as You come back again, You will come as a judge and as a Savior.
And so would You help our words this weekend, our actions this weekend, to tell others about that day? But also, would You help us to focus in on that day confidently, as we remember that we are among those who have been redeemed? We pray this now in Jesus’ name, Amen
AMEN Come Lord Jesus! Thank you for this inspiring message.
Thank you, I totally agree. John 9:4 “work while it is day…”. And it is our commission to share the good news. Mark 16:15 and others. Then when we stand before our judge we’ll hear “well done…” The signs too might be “the ones”. We hear a-lot more about them now from my perspective (I’m 81.) SDG and in His time!!
Sue Brauer