Hebrews 10: 35--37 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise. --NKJV
In the name of the One Who made the promise, amen.
I'm always amazed at how long traffic lights can be. It seems like an eternity when I'm in a hurry. It is even more frustrating when no cars are coming and I still have to wait--especially with a red arrow in a left turn lane. Now, if I'm just a little bit tired and hungry...
Maybe that's what it is like for Christians in the world. We are brought to faith by the Holy Spirit working through the Gospel and sacraments. We see the great difference between the things of God and the things of the world. We are eager to go home and be with our Savior. We are hungry for the feast that waits for us there. It seems like nothing stands in our way, and yet we are told to wait. And so we wait.
Yes, it is a long wait. But it isn't as if we don't have anything to do. We are to help others on their way. In many cases we send them on ahead so that they will be at the heavenly banquet to greet us when we arrive there. We pull some people out of life's ditches so that they too may be saved. We provide for our children and teach them the life-giving gospel, or care for our parents when they get old, and comfort them with the promise of God.
We wait, and we wait, but the promise of eternal life in Jesus Christ keeps us from giving up. And the work that God has given us to do keeps us occupied while we wait. It won't be that long. Just as the traffic light suddenly turns green and we can finally step on the gas and go, so the sky will be rolled up like a sheet of paper (Isaiah 34: 4), and we will finally go to the place where we belong. We will finally go home to the great feast that waits for us. Amen.
Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, You are the source and creator of all. You hold time itself in Your hand. The wait seems long to us. Help us to endure it. Keep us in the true faith, and help us to remain confident in Your promise to take us home to You in heaven, amen.