MATTHEW 24:29-31 – “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
THEME OF THE DAY: HOW TO GAIN PROPER PERSPECTIVE IN LIFE. There are a lot of challenges facing us in our daily walks with the Lord. The list we may generate is long but let me put forth two I think we each would nod with an approving “amen”.
First, the ease of worrying and getting all anxious about circumstances and situations in life. Sleepless nights of fretting over life’s many cares and the “pit in our stomachs” of fearful anxiety from a difficult “what if” circumstance are common experiences confronting us. Basically, we just get consumed with life in a fallen world forgetting it is supposed to be painful and hard.
A second common challenge among us is related to today’s scripture and the Second Coming of our Lord. The reason why we fail so often in the many difficulties in this life is because we forget the truth of our Lord’s return. Allow me to test that statement. How much have we thought in the past seven days about the Lord appearing in the clouds and every eye seeing Him including our own? Better yet, when trials in life tempt to overwhelm us, do we direct our minds off our circumstances and onto the Christ who is returning?
To gain the proper perspective in life, our minds are to be settled on and thinking often of Christ’s return. By doing so we are reminded of a couple of things. We are temporary citizens in this world just passing through and that quickly. The Apostle Paul reminds the Philippians believers about where believers’ citizenship actually is and it is not in this world – “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself” (Philippians 3:20-21).
The other application thinking on Christ’s return does for getting the right perspective on life is how we are enabled to properly view life’s challenges especially the suffering ones. What did the Apostle Paul say about our suffering in this life? He called them “momentary, light afflictions” – “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). He suffered a lot. How could he call his suffering “light affliction?” In comparison with eternity and seeing Jesus they were. And so will ours be. When we see Jesus, do we think our thoughts will be consumed with all we suffered in our earthly life? Not all. We will be all-consumed with awe over Jesus. In thinking about His appearance, we start that process now and get the proper perspective on life.
PRAYER: Father, help me keep my mind, heart, and life on the appearing of Your Son.
REFLECTION: Think often of the Second Coming of Jesus. It brings life into proper perspective.