By David Ryser
(Written shortly
after the New Year, 2009)
The holidays are past, and I am
catching up on my reading. I am
especially interested in Christian postings concerning the passing of the old
year and expectations for the coming year.
The second coming of Christ is a popular theme, both looking back and
looking forward, and one person sums up the feelings of many by saying, “I was
disappointed that He did not come….”
Reading this statement, I am
reminded about why I recently unpacked my rapture bag.
What is a rapture bag, you
ask? A rapture bag is a small to medium
sized tote bag loaded with all of the things one may need to make the trip into
the heavenlies more comfortable. Because
many of us are so far from God, the trip might be prolonged, and there is no
sense in having it being any more uncomfortable than it needs to be. In my case, the bag contained a couple of
power bars, a liter sized bottle of water, a polar fleece blanket in case I
became cold along the way (there is no real defense against becoming hot--extreme
heat is a bad sign the trip has gone awry), a good Christian magazine (which
was very difficult to find--the good
part, anyway), and a good Christian book (equally difficult to find, and for
the same reason).
I unpacked my rapture bag because I
looked away from the problems in the Middle East,
the global economy, worldwide weather patterns, earthquake frequency charts,
and the latest candidate for the office of Antichrist--and I looked instead at
the Bible--for clues concerning the return of Jesus. Two words in Scripture repeated themselves in
connection with the Lord’s return: Bride
and Harvest (specifically Wheat in Matthew 13: 24-30, 36-43). As I considered these many scriptures, I came
to the conclusion that the return of Christ is not imminent; or, at least, not as soon as we would like to think
(and my power bars and bottled water have expiration dates on them).
Neither the Bride nor the Harvest
is ready.
The scriptures concerning the Bride
being prepared for Jesus seem to focus on the areas of expectancy (the parable of the ten virgins, for example) and beauty (too many examples to cite). Considering the former--expectancy--I
realized that our expectancy is not that of a loving bride who is lovesick
until her bridegroom’s appearance. We
are eager for our Bridegroom’s return when things are bad and we want to be
rescued (and begin to enjoy the blessings of heaven). Considering the latter--beauty--it occurred to
me that kings marry only beautiful brides.
There is no politically correct way to put this: Kings do not marry homely
women. Why? Because they don’t have to. As I look at the Bride, even though I am not
a king, I would not marry this woman--I would not even date her. She needs some work, maybe a lot of work. The Bride is not ready for the
Bridegroom. Until we admit this, we will
not be motivated to do anything about it.
The Bible says that Jesus is coming
back for a Bride without spot, not a Bride that could be named Spot.
As for the Harvest/Wheat, I remain intrigued
by the parable of the wheat and the tares, in Matthew 13, cited above. We are not even left guessing about the
interpretation of the parable, as Jesus interprets it for us. What stands out most to me in this parable is
the ripeness of the harvest which is the signal that the time of reaping has
come. When wheat ripens, the kernels of
wheat that are the fruit of the harvest look (and are) exactly like the
original seed that was planted. That
seed would be Jesus. Do we look--act,
speak, minister--like Jesus? Are we dead
to self while being filled with the life of the original seed that was planted?
Let’s be honest, the Harvest is not
ready--many times we can’t even tell the wheat from the tares much less argue
the wheat is ripe.
It’s easy to criticize the unprepared
state of the Bride until we realize the Bride is nothing more than the
aggregate of her members; in other words, I am the Bride (and so are you). When I stopped looking at the things I
mentioned earlier to signal the return of Jesus (Israel, floods, earthquakes,
famines, wars, etc.), I began to look somewhere else--into my own heart. Am I prepared as a Bride for my
Bridegroom? Do I love Him with all of my
heart and yearn for Him with all of my being?
Am I producing a harvest--a harvest of the life of Jesus that was
planted in me--in my life? Am I
accurately representing God in the world through my speech and actions? Am I doing the things Jesus did and saying
the things Jesus said? Does my touch
impart life or death to others?
Is Jesus returning in this New
Year? I don’t know; I suspect not, but
to find out, all I have to do is to look at the Bride/Wheat.
And to do that, I need only to look in the
nearest mirror.
Responses to this article are
welcomed. You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com
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