Matthew 22:40-44

“Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.” vs. 42

As technology and science have progressed we have become more adept at predicting the future. We’ve even gotten pretty good at predicting the weather and can be fairly confident about when the next storms will be moving in. But there are some things that remain a mystery and that happens most frequently as we try to figure out endings. Jesus’ words about the end bear that out. He tells his followers that they can’t possibly know when the Lord is coming again–but he does tell them to wait with anticipation. As it turns out, that’s probably the best way to live in this world, even if we’re not among those looking for the Lord’s imminent return. Rather than plowing ahead and wasting energy trying to control our futures, it’s far better to relax and wait. We’re not talking about passive, apathetic waiting here though. Believers will wait with anticipation and expectation, looking for signs of God’s activity in the world around them, and alert to manifestations of divine love and mercy. God is God and even in our secular world there will be occasions when God will be unmistakably present to us under the guise of ordinary things. This doesn’t happen for everyone. Some will see and others won’t. Someday we will come up against our ending–it’s as inevitable as one season following another. But before that day there’s plenty of waiting to do. And big surprises are on the way.

Thought for the Day: What’s it like to wait with anticipation?