Pray and Wait - November 15, 2009

Good Sunday morning! The new snow reminds me of some holiday; I'm not sure which one, but I do feel an urge to play some carols or something like that. Hmm, which holiday could it be? The anticipation of the holiday is here, but the holiday itself is not. Do we have to wait until a certain date on the calendar to celebrate the birth of Jesus? Of course not! We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on Easter. How terrible would it be if we had to wait until Easter Sunday to be born again? Now that's a difficult thought. Imagine that an Easter sermon touched your heart, but a deacon said, "Sorry, you're not on the list for today, we'll save you next year."

Jesus didn't set aside the Sabbath, but He did make each day a worship day. We don't have to wait for Sunday to worship, or for Christmas Day to celebrate our Lord Jesus. In this age of rush and speed, we like things that we don't have to wait for. Fast food, drive-thru windows, frozen entrees, next day shipping, and many other services came from the need for speed we feel these days. While some of these things can be bad for us, other fast conveniences are nice to have. Did Jesus see this coming? Well, he may have started it in fact. We no longer have to wait to pray because of His work. We no longer have to wait until a priest gets around to sacrificing an animal in order to be forgiven; we can ask immediately and repent. God forgives us straight away! The Holy Spirit even makes intercession for us constantly with God.

In all this rushing about, God has thought to provide us with immediate access to Jesus in prayer. However, we are also called to wait upon the Lord. God knows about the rush of events and demands of today, and has taken it into account; but He also calls us to slow down and know patience. Events are rushing to a final conclusion, but God is neither taken by surprise nor caught off guard. We can rush into prayer in a busy day, and yet feel the peace of waiting on the Lord.

What a beautiful day to come to Jesus in prayer!

Bucky