Philippians 3:20
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Imagine for a moment that you are standing in a room with about 10 of your closest friends. You have shared good times and escaped death with these companions. You have spent the last three years with these people on a journey of learning, teaching, and service. But the person whom you have been following during this time was just arrested and put to death. You’re terrified that soldiers will knock down the door at any moment and arrest and kill you as well.
Then, all of a sudden, Jesus is standing before you, wounds and all. He tells you that He must leave you to be with God in heaven, but will return for you. You begin thinking about all that He taught you, all that He instructed you to do. You remember all of His instructions about love and forgiveness and obedience. You see Him ascend into heaven, and you begin counting the days, waiting for Him to return. You’re excited about His return, and you travel to the ends of the earth living your life to tell others about Him. Nothing else matters except spreading this news!
I know that we are hundreds and hundreds of years removed from the time when Jesus walked on this earth with His disciples. But what if we lived our lives truly believing that He could return at any moment.
Jesus describes it this way in Mark 13. He says it is like a master leaving his household for a journey, and leaving his servants in charge with certain instructions. The servants do not know when the master will return, but they will stay on alert and continue to be obedient, fulfilling the master’s instructions until the day of his return.
If we took Jesus at His word and lived our lives 100% believing He could return at any moment, how would our lives be different? Would we be concerned with a better job or a better car, or a bigger house? Sure, we can always find reasons to be concerned about stuff like that and convince ourselves that it’s very important. But when was the last time you were concerned about being obedient to God? When was the last time you were more concerned about your neighbor who doesn’t know Jesus than about getting the new slimmer LED tv and upgrading to HD? Don’t get defensive, but please humbly realize that stuff has a way of taking our focus away form Jesus.
So many of us have lost our intensity to live for God. Or, maybe we never had any intensity. Maybe the reason we’re lost our passion is because we’re so far removed from the time Jesus walked on this earth.I beg you to take inventory of your life. Recognize why you do what you do. Are you living in obedience to God? Live like children of God, live as though you are a citizen of heaven and heirs to God’s promise with Christ! Return to God, and live your life for Him who died for you. (2 Corinthians 5:15)
Related Text:
Philippians 3 (entire chapter, it’s great!!)
