Sometimes in reading the word there is a “holy convergence” when scriptures from different parts of the Bible point us to a common theme.  That happened to me this morning.

I started in Isaiah 64 where Isaiah is passionately pleading for the Lord to, “rend the heavens and come down.”  The previous chapter ended by Isaiah lamenting the sad reality of Israel acting like those over whom God had never ruled, like those who are not called by His name.  I thought about the broader church today and how we as Christians are so entangled in the worlds affairs.  Isaiah would exhort us; “Those of you who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth (62:6, 7).”

With the family we read Acts17:22-34.  In verse 30 Paul addressing the Areopagus says, “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Finally in 2 Peter I read, “Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God. (3:11, 12)”  God has appointed a day in which He will “come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. (3:10)” 

This is an amazing reality.  That as God sanctifies us, as we live lives of holiness and godliness, delighting in who God is and the obedience He calls us to; We participate in hastening the day that He will come.  We in some mysterious way speed it’s coming.  This is a great motivation and encouragement to press on in knowing and following the Lord. 

O God, rend the heavens and come down.  Empower us, your beloved bride to give You no rest until consummate Your glorious plan of salvation.  Use us as Your instruments in taking the gospel to the ends of the earth.  Help us to hasten the day of Your return by living lives of holiness and godliness in the midst of a wicked and corrupt generation.  

 

Amen.