4.28.2011

What if He came back today?

What if He came back today? What would He find you doing?
 
Would He find you serving others in need? Would He find you reading His word joyfully? Would He find you sharing the good news?
 
Or would He find you sitting on Facebook mindlessly clicking through meaningless things? Would He find you as a couch potato, losing hours on movies that are merely garbage and unedifying to your spiritual walk? Or perhaps He might even find you in the middle of sin, some sin that you continually put as priority over Him.

Today I came across a link on a website, which shared a poll about Jesus coming back. Many American's, a total of 41%, expect Jesus to return by the year 2050.

With reading that my heart jumped, what if Jesus comes back in my lifetime?
It's exciting, it's scary, it's motivating and also very challenging.
Would Jesus be pleased with what I am currently doing for His kingdom if He came back today?
Would He be pleased with you?

A couple weeks ago when I was reading in the Gospel of Luke, I came across a familiar passage when Jesus is talking to some spies who had come to question Him. I found this passage interesting and wanted to blog about it in some way... and now I finally found my opportunity. :)

Check out the passage:

Luke 20: 20-26
 "20 Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. 21 So the spies questioned him: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. 22 Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
 23 He saw through their duplicity and said to them, 24 “Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?”
   “Caesar’s,” they replied.
 25 He said to them, Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
 26 They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent."

The main concept I want you to get out of these verses is verse 25, which I put in bold.
Give back to God what is God's. What exactly does that mean?

Did you realize that time is God's? God created you and gave you life in this world. He planned the steps you would take and the number of days you have to live. Taking that into consideration, it is only by God's grace and mercy that you are still breathing at this very moment. God has given you a certain amount of time (which is but a mere handbreadth), and He expects you to use it wisely.

Which brings me back to the original point of my post - What if Jesus came back today?
Are you spending your time wisely?

I know that we all have a lot of things going on in our lives, constantly. We all have plans and things we want to do. It's very easy to get distracted and simply forget that Jesus could return at any moment. But God has given us this life for a reason, and it wasn't so that it may be wasted on mindless, meaningless things. It was so that we may glorify Him, that we may do things for Him and His incredible and perfect Kingdom.
 
When I think about how much time I have wasted on stupid things, how much time I have wasted on Facebook, movies, or just being lazy in general, it makes me feel disappointed with myself. I want Jesus to be pleased with me, I want Him to constantly be glorified through the words and deeds that I do. I hope you want that too!

One thing I know for certain is that Jesus IS going to return. He is definitely coming back.
What will He find you doing?

4 comments:

  1. I do think that we all waste a ridiculous amount of time looking to facebook to fill our time. It is lazy, I agree. I'm sure my jaw would drop if I saw the number of hours I had spent staring at the computer screen. It's kind of crazy.

    The part that is often overlooked though is the fat that God does let us do those things. It isn't that there is anything wrong with facebook. The question is, "where do we draw the line?"

    Well you asked the question, "are you spending your time wisely?" that is where it is unclear, and frankly where I think that we often miss the point. It isn't that we have a particular amount of time that we can fill ourselves up with those things and that is it. The point is that if Jesus came back and he sees us as we are, would he be satisfied in that we are satisfied in him. Whether or not we spending a lot of time in seemingly wasteful activities seems a lot smaller in light of that.

    Now, I don't mean to say that spending your time on facebook or wherever can be a waste. I wish I could just delete mine and be done with it, but it is nice to communicate with others (you know me). I think the root of the issue is not necessarily how much time we spend doing things, but the quality of it.

    As an example: You can read the bible all you want, but if you aren't genuinely focused in on what the gospel is trying to tell you, then you have wasted your time. The Bible is just another story book if that is the case.

    Quality, not quantity.

    Great post!!

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  2. Good point Joel! I definitely agree with you there. Like Facebook for example, I love it and I hate it. It's really great for sharing cool stuff (like blogs, aw yea!) and keeping up with people, but at the same time, geez. It's so stupid and I (like you said) would prefer to delete it (which I have been thinking of actually...)!

    Although, I will say that if certain activities, like Facebook or what have you, are causing you to be distracted a little too often, then perhaps they are worth getting rid of!

    Nevertheless, good point! It's certainly important to keep in mind where your heart is at. :)

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  3. Wow. That was a really good post. What an awesome reminder.

    I really can't wait.

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  4. Aw Ash! I'm excited that you're excited, haha! :)

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