Growing up, I’ve heard it said many times, whether from a pulpit, a stranger, or through a loved one, that Jesus is coming back soon. Consequently, between the years of childhood and my mid-teens, this truth usually left me so fearful that I would constantly look up at the sky, dreading His appearance. Unfortunately, that fear never led me to change how I lived or (more importantly) caused me to seek God to direct my life. I was stuck and stubborn in my ways and wants until the day God changed my life. Now that I am older and wiser since that experience, I look back and thank God for His faithfulness and patience with me throughout my years of folly.
Recently, I pondered the reality that many people, especially youths, have little to no care about the imminent return of Christ. This moved me to pray, and The LORD responded by opening my eyes to see two major hindrances I experienced as a youth that not only blinded me from seeing the importance of Jesus’ return, but also robbed me of the joy of His coming. As I share these insights, I pray that you will open your heart and allow the Lord to ignite a hunger and excitement within you for Him.
The first opposition I identified was the absence of hope—the kind of hope that came from a place of knowing Jesus personally. There is no longing or looking out for someone with whom you have no real connection or relationship. Think about a child whose parent has gone away, whether for a short or long period of time. They would miss their mom/dad because of the close bond they share. I did not have a close bond with Jesus. Yes, I grew up in church, got water-baptised, read my Bible, and was polite to those around me, but merely doing these things did not foster or prove an actual relationship with Him. I still needed that real divine connection through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit—I needed to be saved.
Thankfully, Jesus relentlessly pursued me, drawing me to Himself despite my resistance for some years. One afternoon, when the school day had just ended, I remember Him drawing me once again, but this time it was different; I could sense it was my last opportunity to repent/turn away from my sins, and so I cried out for His forgiveness. He mercifully saved me, and my life changed from that day onwards.
Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Unfortunately, the next opposition to feeling and thinking rightly about the Lord’s return happened subsequently to receiving His Spirit. It was good that I no longer had an unhealthy fear, but I was not fearing Him at all in the sense of reverencing Him as I ought to. This brought me into apathy/lack of concern about His return.
TORMENTED
Though I was saved, there were times along my faith journey where I lost sight of what was truly beneficial for my soul. I yielded to Satan’s temptations to lust after things from which I knew Jesus had delivered me. Though I understood that God could keep me pure, in moments of temptation, there was something stirring in my heart that caused me to desire otherwise.
I simply wanted my way. I wanted to watch or read materials full of violence, pornography, and coarse jesting. I intentionally chose to look away from Jesus, who loved me, and I gazed upon a world that didn’t—a world God would one day judge severely.
1 John 3:3 KJV And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
The truth is, if you have the Holy Spirit living inside you, sinning is never comfortable. I had no peace living outside of the hope of Christ’s return. I couldn’t stand the internal torment it produced, and so I humbly repented. He forgave me. Now whenever a sinful thought comes, God reminds me that He can keep me pure if I desire the same. My part is simply remaining in agreement with His will for me. Such a life is certainly possible.
Let us believe God’s Word and reject the lies of Satan that may even slightly reason otherwise.
Psalm 119:11 NKJV
Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 NKJV
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
You may be in a similar position as I was: doing all the right and religious things, “staying out of trouble”. There’s nothing wrong with those things, nor am I saying you should stop, but they are no good when done out of human will. This is self-righteousness, which is bound to fail since it does not please God, who will only receive those without spot or wrinkle (sin). This is only possible if we firstly receive His Spirit, which gives us power to live in complete obedience to Him as His children.
Consider this: if today was the day Christ cracked the sky or said to you, “Your time on earth is done,” would you have lived in such a way that would qualify your entrance into His eternal Kingdom?
Or is your heart fearful of being condemned?
If it’s the latter, then you must take time to find out why. If it is that you’re not saved, repent of your sins and cry out to Him for His Spirit. He will not despise the prayers of a heart truly broken and tired of sin. Psalm 51:17
If you are saved but still entertain some sort of sin, just stop and repent! Sin is no longer your master. You do have the power through Christ Jesus to say “no” to sin.
Romans 6:12-14 NKJV
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
Jesus is coming back, and He wants you to be ready and waiting for Him with joyful expectation. Every natural thing on this earth is temporal and therefore will have no value and be destroyed at His return. This is why living out His will should be our ultimate pursuit.
Who wants to have lived their life in vain–only to undergo exponential degrees of the worst things one could ever experience in this life as they are separated from God for eternity? Why not grab hold of the hope of Jesus’ return, where He will redeem us, granting us exponential degrees of experiencing Him and all His goodness without end?
Darien Callum is a member of Passion and Purity, a school-based Christian ministry.
