Be Patient, Jesus is Coming! - 05/26/2024

The book of James contains short saying that encourage Christians in so many ways. James writes for Christians to be patient; Jesus is coming (James 5:7, 8).

It may have been a decade or two after Jesus had ascended into heaven when James wrote this exhortation. Ever since His ascension and the promise the angel made to the apostles of His return (Acts 1:9-11), the message had been proclaimed that Jesus is going to return. But people’s patience is not very long. Normally our ability to persevere is only for a short period of time. We soon lose heart.

Reassuring his readers that Jesus will return, James says not to give up regardless of the circumstances. He uses an agricultural illustration of a farmer waiting for the “precious produce of the soil … until it gets the early and late rains.”

Encouraging us to “strengthen [our] hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near,” James tells Christians to “place firmly” in our hearts (our minds) the fact that Jesus will return. False teachers will present the idea that Jesus is not going to return, since He has not returned yet. James does not want us to waiver nor give up on serving Jesus. He wants us to be constant in our thinking.

While we do not know when, we need to have the fullest of confidence that this promise made by God and Jesus, through the angels to the apostles, will come true. Be patient, Jesus is coming!

Some may think that the time is near because of things happening in our world today. We need to be reminded that these events are not “something new,” but rather are the same things that have been happening for years. However, whether Jesus returns in the next week, year, or decade, Christians need to be ready. Jesus may not come back for another two thousand years or longer, but we need to be ready for Him t0 return today.

Christians not only need to be ready for Jesus to return today, but we need to be persuading non-Christians to be ready for Jesus’ return also. We need to inform others that this event will happen, and not to consider the time between when Jesus said He was coming back and today as a sign that He is not coming. He will return one day!

So while Christians are being patient about the coming of Jesus, let us be busy convincing others of this fact. Let us not lose heart, but rather strengthen our hearts to have the full assurance Jesus is coming. Until that great and glorious day, Christians should continue to be living God’s way. - cgm

Scriptural quotations from the NASB1995.