Who is waiting for who?

Sadly, there is much teaching, many songs sung and many prayers offered that Jesus would return to the earth as he promised he would – the impression is given that the church is aimlessly gazing at the sky waiting for Jesus to return and it appears that the church is getting somewhat impatient! How often do we hear Christians tell the lie that ‘Jesus could return tonight’? The reality is that Jesus cannot, and will not return to the earth until the gospel has been taken to every ethnic grouping (Matthew 24:14) 

Consequently, it is not a case of the church waiting for Jesus to return at any moment but more a case of Jesus waiting for the church to complete the Great Commission to allow him to return. Do you believe Jesus was telling the truth when he said he would return again? Do you long for him to return and establish his rule and Kingdom? If so, don’t wait and wonder when this will happen but work towards this hope by making it your top priority to take his gospel to those who have never heard it that the conditions for his return might be fulfilled. 

‘Christ wants to return. He longs to reign. It is His right. Then why does he wait? He is waiting for you and me to complete the task. He is waiting for us to do what he has told us to do. Many a time he must say to himself as he sits there, ‘How long, I wonder, are they going to keep me waiting? When will they let me come back? How soon can I return to earth to sit on My throne and reign’’

‘We have but one great task and God’s Word, “his blood will I require at thine hand”, will apply to us if we withhold the Gospel. If the King is to reign, we must finish the task. He is counting on us. How long, I wonder, are we going to keep him waiting? We should lay everything else aside and concentrate on this one great objective, the completion of the evangelization of the world in our own generation’.

(Oswald J Smith – A Passion for Souls)