As followers of Christ, there are a couple of things we all believe. We believe He lived, died, and rose again. We also believe He will return one day to redeem His followers. If you aren’t a believer, some of that can seem hard to swallow. But for those of us who have dedicated our lives to Jesus, these are the basic truths that are as comfortable as breathing to us. Perhaps that’s the problem. As breathing requires no conscious thought, neither does the life that so many of us claim to be living for Christ. We believe the right things, talk in the approved manner, and even attend the obligatory meetings. As living a Christian life has become second nature, we risk eternal salvation not only for ourselves but for everyone who has not yet come to Jesus (Matthew 7:21-23).
Do you ever give much thought to the possibility of Jesus returning today? What if He did? Would you be pleased with what He found you doing? This has always been a sobering thought for me. Not only does it make us think twice about our current activity, but it should also make us take an extremely hard look at the way we are living our lives. What is our overarching purpose? On what are we spending the resources He has entrusted to us?
Almost everyone wants their life to have some significance, but the reality is that your life will matter only inasmuch as it is lived for Jesus. No amount of wealth or possessions will count for anything when Jesus returns. The Bible specifically points out how all of these things will simply burn away (1 Corinthians 3:11-15). All that will remain is what we have done for Jesus. To how many people have we demonstrated His love? How often did we allow ourselves to be the hands and feet of Jesus in a dark world of constant decay? How many did we feed, clothe, shelter, care for, and visit? These are the things that matter. Our actions and love are the economy of eternity.
Still, we spend our days selfishly providing for our needs instead of those of others. We are happy as long as we are safe, well-fed, entertained, and generally comfortable. We love the comfort zone of our lives. Living beyond our security is something we quickly reject as we scramble back to safety, back to normalcy, and back to irrelevance. Jesus was many things, but He was never once irrelevant.
What if Jesus did come back today? Would you gladly welcome Him without shame? More importantly, would He find your life worthy of the call He placed on it? None of us has any guarantee of another breath. The time to begin living for Jesus in the way we promised Him we would is this very moment. Wait one day and you may discover you waited too long. You committed your life to live for Him. You pledged that He would be the Lord of your life. Do your actions match your commitment? It’s time. If Jesus returns today, will you be ready?