What Are We Watching For?

What are we watching for?

My grandson was four years old when he came to live with my wife and I. During his first grade year of school, he became fascinated with Harley Davidson motorcycles. One day while in town running errands I stopped by the Harley Davidson store and purchased a Harley Davidson cap for him. It was black and had the famous Harley Davidson logo on the front. When he saw the hat, he loved it. He told me he needed a Harley Davidson jacket to go with his hat.

So being the good PaPa, I later went back to the Harley Davidson store to purchase his jacket. Since it was such a small size, they had to special order one. The clerk told me it would be several days maybe even two weeks before the jacket would arrive. That evening I told Nick I had purchased the jacket, but it would be several days until he received it.

I will never forget how each day, when I would pick him up from school, he would get in the backseat of the car and lean into the front seat and look all around. After a few days, I ask him what he was looking for. He answered that he was looking for the jacket that I had promised him.

He actually believed that I was going to do what I had promised him, and therefore he had expectation that his jacket would be there.

Finally, the day came when the jacket arrived, and he was so joyful and excited to wear his Harley Davidson jacket with his Harley Davidson cap.

When Jesus ascended into heaven after his resurrection, the angel told those who stood around staring into the heavens, that Jesus would someday come back just like he left.

The early church looked every day to see if what they had been promised was going to arrive that day.

Much is said in the epistles concerning the coming of Jesus. The rapture became the motivation to the early church to live for the Lord and overcome the persecution that they faced on a regular basis. Paul told the Thessalonian church, they were to comfort one another with the words that he had taught them about the return of Jesus Christ to this earth.

Looking for the expectation of Jesus’ return is just as much of the apostolic doctrine as spiritual gifts and all of the miracles and demonstrations of the Holy Ghost that we enjoy today.

Mark Morris, Author

I find it most interesting that in most cemeteries, the graves are positioned for the resurrected bodies to come forth facing the eastern sky.

Many old-time apostolics would have the back of the head of their bed to the west so that in the event of the rapture, they would rise facing the eastern sky.

I have heard of those who would make sure their house had windows facing the east. They were checking the windows for the promise to arrive.

So many of the songs that we sing tell about the coming back of Jesus Christ. There is an old song titled, “I don’t want to get adjusted to this world.” One line says, “I’ve got a home that’s so much better. I’m going to go there sooner or later. I don’t want to get adjusted to the world.”

Are we looking every day for the Lord to come back or have we over the years become adjusted to our everyday world. I want to make sure that I am looking for the Lord, just as Nick looked every day for the jacket that had been promised to him.