Keep On, Keeping On

There are many people who live in active denial of the reality that one day, their life here will end. Others are in a constant fight against the evidence of that reality. Anti-wrinkle cream and joint pain reducers and hair dye are called on to wage a war against any sign of the fact that life is a linear journey. Time waits for no man, or so the saying goes. I would say that as a culture we are in a battle against this reality. There is a sort of hyper reality called NOW and everything outside of it is for the very most part ignored. What matters is what is happening now and we rarely think about the future and even less often consider the end. But, our lives as Christians must be different. We must think about our mortality. Moreover, we must live in light of the end that is coming for this heaven and earth. Such thinking cannot be focused solely on what we gain. It must also be focused on the implications that such an end has for the people around us. What if today Jesus returns? How many people that you know will spend eternity apart from Christ? Now, before you get your “The End is Near” sandwich board sign and head to your street corner with a megaphone, let’s instead wisely consider James’ point in chapter 5:7-12. If he could sit with you and look you in the eye, I think he might say something like this:

“I know living for Jesus is hard. I know that it costs you much. This is not your home. Keep growing as a follower of Jesus. Keep sharing the good news with anyone who will give you the chance. Don’t lose heart and don’t give up. God hasn’t forgotten you. He will bring about the most amazing realities in the end. I know that you know that the end is near. Jesus will come. Keep on, keeping on.”

And if James did give you that talk, I think you would walk away with purpose, a sense of mission. And that is what I pray for you and for me. Not that our lives would be consumed by the reality that the end is coming but rather that because we know the end is coming we would be all the more determined to carry out the mission given to us by the Father until the end comes. Stay faithful. Pursue deeper knowledge of Jesus. Pursue greater obedience to Him. Keep on, the end is near.