What Should We Be Doing As We Wait for the Return of Jesus, Part 1

How are we to live in light of the fact that Christ could return at any moment? First, we need to wake up!

“Let us not sleep, as others do . . .” (1 Thessalonians 5:6 NKJV). The Encyclopedia Britannica defines sleep as “a state of inactivity, with a loss of consciousness and a decrease in responsiveness to events taking place.”

There are people in the church today who have gone asleep. They are not watching the signs of the times, nor observing the “times and seasons.” There is a lethargy and passiveness, even a laziness. There seems to be a disconnect from their so-called “spiritual life” and real life. Instead of “walking in the spirit” they are sleepwalking!

I don’t know about you, but when I have had a good meal, I get sleepy! Sometimes the most well-fed Christians are also the laziest! They become sermon connoisseurs instead of fishers of men. Paul tells us to wake up and be ready for the Lord’s return!

Remember when you were a little kid and it was so hard to fall asleep on Christmas Eve? It may have been the excitement of opening your presents the next day. For some, it may have been the hope of seeing Santa Claus. It was a joyful anticipation that kept you awake, not some kind of dread or fear.

Looking for Christ’s return is not a miserable, repressive, confining way to live. It’s a happy, joyful, purposeful way to live. C.H. Spurgeon said, “It is a very blessed thing to be on the watch for Christ. It is a blessing to us now. How it detaches you from the world! You can be poor without murmuring. You can be rich without worldliness. You can be sick without sorrowing. You can be healthy without presumption. If you are always waiting for Christ’s coming, untold blessings are wrapped up in that glorious hope!”