I feel like there’s a piece of me that’s addicted to wishing the time away- an element of my character that refuses to live in the present and longs for a potential future state of being. When our kids were very young, I held my breath until they could all go to the bathroom on their own. Untold number of older adults told me, “Don’t wish these days away.” It didn’t help, I still did. And apparently, they did too.

Now that our kids are older, I find myself looking forward to the day that our bills are lower, we pay the mortgage off, or when some long-term project I’ve got going is complete. My guess is, when those things occur, I will have found something new to anticipate. Something new to keep me from living in the present.

There are a good many books written on living in the present. Remember when carpe diem was a big phrase in the 90’s? In the 2000’s it was some form of you only live once. The widespread use of such sayings points to a collective agreement that we long to be in the moment but just can’t quite do it.

Each week our senior staff meets to read and discuss a passage of scripture, and to pray for one another. This week we started 1 Corinthians 1 and something Paul said struck me. Instead of seize the moment, he says in verse 7 that they should be “awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ” and points them to the “day of our Lord Jesus Christ” in verse 8.

The Day of the Lord is one of Paul’s constant themes in his letters to the churches. We will see that this fall in our Acts study. He is continually preaching Jesus as the first fruits of the resurrection of the dead. When Christ returns, those who have died in Him, will join Him in the resurrection. If you happen to have strong feelings about there being a “rapture” I’ll refer you to Pastor Steve, however, I will say that is not what Paul is referring to. 

Instead of pointing us to a time when Christians are zapped out of history, we are to anticipate a day when Christ’s Kingdom fully breaks into our seen reality. On that day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, all wrongs will be made right, evil will be judged, those who have chosen to reject Christ will receive what they have chosen, and those who have chosen to put their faith in Him will receive “exceedingly abundantly beyond what we can ask or even imagine” (Ephesians 3:20). These things – according to the early church – would all be accomplished on the great day of the Lord.

While other letters from Paul can become quite theologically lofty, the rest of 1 Corinthians contains a lot of very specific, day-to-day instructions on how to live. It’s as if focusing on the coming day of the Lord actually serves as the foundation on which believers stand to face the moment they are in. If you think about it, it rings true. Focusing on any other future event or state of being removes me from the present. Whereas, joining in with the Spirit and the Bride in Revelation 22 and saying “Come Lord Jesus” actually helps us live in the moment.

I don’t think the Spirit and the Bride in Revelation are saying, “Come someday Lord.” It seems there is an implicit “now” in there. We want Jesus to intersect our lives right now. The answer to my current issues, problems and challenges isn’t wishing for a time when they go away. Rather, it’s desiring Christ to enter into them today. And ultimately, longing for Him to literally return and make all things new.

What about you?  What do you wish away? How might focusing on Christ’s return change your perspective on that issue? How might you long for Him to enter into that situation right here, right now?