Scriptural Highlight: (James 5: 8) – “Be ye also patient, establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”
In the time of the early disciples, they thought that the second
coming of the Lord Jesus was going to be in their days. As a result, there was
a kind of life they lived: They lived every day of their lives expecting His return;
They lived prepared and consecrated lives, totally sold out to the Lord. So
even when the Lord did not yet come, they did mind blowing exploits and died in the Lord.
In our scriptural highlight for today, James was writing and
encouraging brethren to be patient, to establish their hearts: for the coming
of the Lord is at hand. We are encouraged to be patient by the Holy Spirit not
just because Christ’s coming may be delayed but because, believers could lose
their fire, their faith or their zeal thinking that to delay is to annul.
We were also encouraged to establish our hearts. The word, establish, is used
also with the word to mature. In other words, we are admonished to get matured
in our hearts because of the coming of the Lord Jesus. When a man is matured,
things that deceive children won’t deceive him; when a man is matured or
established in a thing, he is known for that thing and can’t waver or change
course despite challenges.
In Mathew 25, The Lord Jesus told a parable about ten
virgins who waited for the coming of their Lord: Five of them were foolish
while the other five were wise. Wisdom is application of knowledge; wisdom knows
what to do per time in other to live a profitable and fulfilled life daily. Maturity
comes not by reason of time of existence (age) but by reason of knowledge
(experience and revelation). The more knowledgeable you are, the more matured
you are. So the wise virgins were matured because they knew what to do. The
wise virgins were patient, reason, they took extra oil, ready to wait no matter
how long it will take their master to return. Simply put, the wise virgins
established their hearts in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Beloved, The Holy Spirit is admonishing us today to be
patient and established in our hearts: for the coming of our Lord Jesus is truly
at hand. When any man dies, his own judgment sets in (Hebrew 9:27). We live in
a generation that the prophecies that depict the nearness of Christ’s coming is
being fulfilled daily. Remember that the five foolish virgins who refused to be
patient and to establish their hearts on the Lord Jesus once knew the Lord but
they lost the oil (God’s presence) because of carelessness. This is a wake-up
call. May God help all of us in Jesus name. Flourish!
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