Waiting with Courageous Endurance and Anticipation

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

 WAITING WITH COURAGEOUS ENDURANCE AND ANTICIPATION

Luke 21:29-38

29 He told them this parable: "Look at the fig tree and all the trees. 30 When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. 31 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 "I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. 34 "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. 35 For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."  37 Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives, 38 and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the temple.

NIV

Now is not the time to become complacent and get lost in the daily grind of life with all its worries and anxieties. This is the time to always be aware of the kingdom of God and what is about to happen. We can see the signs when they begin if we are watching and waiting for them. Just as in the parable, we are in the season of spring, and we are seeing all the trees beginning to bud up and leaves sprouting so that a beautiful hue of green is overtaking that sad shade of grey we lived with during the cold miserable winter months. We know summer is on the way because we can see the green sprouting. That is how we will know the kingdom of God is coming to us. We know the signs; we know how it will happen and it will be wonderful compared to this current earth. However, it is also true that God designed and created this great planet with all its complexities just for us to live and enjoy all its benefits and provisions. However, now is not the time to become complacent, overindulging ourselves with all the pleasures of this place, along with all the pains or troubles that life also has to offer. We can become so distracted by life itself, that we might lose true life. We can never become so involved with this life, that we are not cognizant of the life to come and look forward with a watchful heart to that day. If we are on guard, diligently keeping watch, we will escape all the terrible things that are to happen to this creation in advance of the new everlasting creation, the new birth of our eternal home where we will walk and talk with our Lord and God, being able to stand before him in all his glory. In the middle of the grey and gloomy winter,  we cannot wait for the beginning of summer and that is how we cannot wait for all the signs to begin before Jesus comes for us. Come, Lord Jesus, we wait with courageous endurance and anticipation.