 | |||
| Click to Enlarge |
Zipping along the freeway the
other day on I-75N near Ooltewah, Tennessee, I passed a car that had a bumper
sticker that said, “Jesus is coming! Look busy!” It had been a long time since
I first read that pithy and witty remark. It made me laugh and sad in one fell
swoop!
“Jesus is coming” is always a
good news reminder! “Look busy” mirrors a situation in the workplace where employees
are alerted that the boss is coming, so everybody scurries to look busy. The
old saying of when the cat’s away the mice do play is another way to describe
what happens when the presence of leadership is absent.
For some reason there are so
many believers living a life that says, “Jesus will not come in my lifetime.”
So their thinking goes something like this, “I have time to sow my wild oats
and live life the way I want to before getting my act together.” I find this thinking
rather reckless and flawed from a biblical point of view. Allow me to share a
couple of thoughts in regards to this.
·
The
Scripture teaches that the first phase of the return of Christ, which we refer
to as the rapture, is imminent. In other words nothing needs to be fulfilled
before Christ will return for His church (cf. Jn 14:1-6; 1 Cor 15:51-54; 1 Thes
4:13-18). No one knows for sure when this might occur. Those who eagerly look
forward to His coming (Rom 8:19, 23, 25; 1Cor1:7; Gal 5:5; Php 3:20;
Heb 9:28), will live pure and chaste lives (1 Jn 3:2-3), not living it up hog
wild! Paul also described those who have kept the faith as having “loved His
appearing” (2 Tim 4:8).
·
The
judgment seat of Christ will follow the rapture of the Church (cf. 1 Cor 4:5; 2
Cor 5:9-10), so there is an urgency for all believers to abide in Him (Eph
5:27; Col 1:22; 1Thes 3:13; 1Jn 5:23) so “that when He appears, we may have
confidence (an “outspokenness” or “freedom of speech”)" without fearful
expectation of judgment but of anticipation of the culmination of our salvation,
unashamed before Him at His coming (cf.1 Jn 2:28). Unbelievers who knew of
Christ will be ashamed they were left behind in the rapture. Genuine believers
who failed to abide in Christ will also be ashamed of the wood, hay, and straw
revelation of living in disobedience when their works are put to the test during the Bema Seat. The Bema will not
involve judgment for the penalty of sin for that was taken care of at the cross.
If believers actually knew when
Christ would return, their “looking busy” would probably be as meaningful as
the employees lollygagging. Abiding is about being faithful in His “absence.” But
we need to consider two of God’s attributes in this matter of spiritually
lollygagging or a deliberate decision not to abide in Him in right thoughts,
attitudes, and actions.
First, God is omniscient or
all-knowing. Has it ever occurred to you nothing has ever occurred to God (cf.
Psa 139:1-18)? He knows every second whether we are lollygagging or being
faithful to Him. So we are only fooling ourselves when we choose to lollygag for
He knows our every thought and every move!
Second, God is omnipresent or
all-present (everywhere present). Whatever and whenever we do right (living for Him) or wrong (lollygagging),
God is right there on the spot with us! He lives within us by His Holy Spirit
as well as being everywhere present. Just because He is invisible doesn’t mean
He is absent or doesn’t know what is going on with us.
Some day He will return and
take us home to heaven; we got His Word on it (Jn 14:3). Until then we need to
be found holy and living for Him. Christ’s love for us is the greatest
motivator to serve Him tirelessly and unselfishly (2 Cor 5:14). Lollygagging is
actually a love problem to be revealed in the future comprised of consumable
material of wood, hay, and straw. Only that which is done for Christ will last
and survive the scrutiny of the Bema Seat as gold, silver, and precious stones
(1 Cor 3:11-15).
According to the writer of Hebrews, nothing escapes God’s
notice, absolutely nothing. He is fully aware of all things in the Universe. He
knows the real faith from the “looking busy” faith. The question we need to ask ourselves is very simple and straightforward; are we a lollygagger or an abider? Time will surely tell, but the Boss already knows! <><
+Camel+Silhouette+Camel+CLR+Bkgrd+right+10%25.png)
