I was listening again to another great song by Casting Crowns. It is called While You Were Sleeping. Every time I hear it I think what I have written here but I finally felt compelled to write it for others as well.
If the president were coming to your house, you’d be sure to have the place cleaned up. You’d make sure to put on your best clothes, have plenty of food and drink of the best kind around in case the president or any of his aids needed anything. You’d be sure your kids were on their best behavior and even if you don’t agree with his policies, you’d put on your own best behavior.
Yet, 2000 years ago, God came down to Earth. It wasn’t as if nobody knew He was
coming. He is by far much more important that a national president. Yet what did
we do? We didn’t have room for his foster parents to sleep in out of the cold. Even granting that we didn’t get to know this was the day that Jesus was coming, what of the rest of his life when we did know who he was? We spat on him, tried to kill him several times for trivial matters and truths we knew but didn’t want to hear. We kicked him out of our towns. Finally, ignoring even our own laws of legal protocol, we bound him, tried him in mock trials, scourged him and then murdered him in the cruelest and most humiliating of fashions.
He came back from that. He is alive today. How do we treat him now? We ignore him at best. We teach our children he is a fairy tale. We continue to spit in his face. We can’t even be bothered to set aside one day a year for him much less one hour a week. Those who do go, go because they feel like they have to, not to fellowship with him. We don’t talk to him. We decide because he doesn’t grant us our every wish like a proverbial genie he isn’t for us. We try others to see if they’ll serve us better. We want God in OUR image and when He doesn’t perform to OUR standards we discard him never really giving Him a chance in the first place. We celebrate saving otters but convince ourselves that a human child isn’t really life. We worry about saving one
tree but don’t have the time or money to help out the guy you see holding the “will
work for food” sign. We’ll spend money to go to a large city to protest the rich, but we can’t even give 50 dollars to the local homeless shelter.
2000 years ago, there was plenty written warning that Jesus was coming the first time. We can read how he was treated then. Today, we have that recorded history and plenty more written about him coming the second time. How will you receive Him?
He came first as a servant not to condemn the world but to save it. Next time, he is coming to claim His people and take them home. Are you one of His people? Read the bible. Read the news. Be as the sons of Issachar who understood the times and knew what Israel should do. We should understand the times and know what we should do. I’ll tell you the first steps, repent from your sinful nature and give yourself to Jesus the Christ. We may not have as much time left as you may suppose.