Wait expectantly

“Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:8 NIV

“You made it! You finally made it!” came the shout of the little boy on the playground near the finish line of the unplanned 5k my friends and I found ourselves running early Saturday morning alongside this young lad and his family; a kid who was now smiling from ear to ear. “We sure did!” I yelled back as I laughed over his genuine excitement to see us. “It took you guys more than an hour,” he said looking down at us from the piece of equipment he was playing on. “It took my mom 58 minutes but it only took me 28 minutes and some change,” he went on to proudly boast. “Oh my,” I said smiling even bigger as I glanced at his mom who was also smiling. “You sure beat us!” I jokingly replied, not feeling the need to explain the reason for our tardiness. We had actually done a six-mile loop to get in more mileage on our quest to complete a half-marathon and had stumbled across the free 5k by accident and jumped in for some fun. Expecting everyone to be done and gone when we got back, it made my heart super happy to see someone so glad to see us; someone that was waiting expectantly for the last people to complete the race. Do you just love that or what?

And you know, when it comes to waiting expectantly for someone, Paul, in a letter to Timothy, said, “Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” Paul was longing for the appearance of Jesus as every believer should be! He didn’t know how long it would take to see Him, nor did Paul care. He would continue to expectantly wait and watch for the return of his Savior. Which would be the time Paul could finally declare that his race was complete. Oh may that be the attitude of every Christian today.

So always keep this in my my friend.... Jesus is coming back very very soon. No one knows the exact day or the hour but we do know this... when the things Jesus told us must happen before He returns are happening in real time as they are right now, it's time to look up for our redemption draws near. 

Heavenly Father, thank You for reminding us that we need to be expectantly awaiting Your return, knowing it could happen at any moment and in the twinkling of an eye. Lord cause us to have a sense of urgency to share this Good News with others that they might be so ready for your return that they would have a deep longing that can be quenched with nothing short of your Presence. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!!!