Yearning For The Day

300 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Ti 4:7,8, “ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. (2 Tim 4:7,8) Paul continues the illustration of our Christian walk likened to an athletic contest. A race and a fight that is run to the end. At the end of the race the ribbons are handed out to all finishers! In this race, it's finishing that counts. That crown of righteousness was laid up in heaven for Paul, the moment he became a believer and is bestowed if he endures to the end in the matter of keeping the faith. This crown is the announcement of “not guilty” by God the Father for all those who placed and kept their faith in His Son Jesus Christ. I think part of the beauty of this statement is we don't have to be a spiritual giant like the Apostle Paul to receive this crown, but this crown is for all who have “loved the appearing” of Jesus. It is for all who long for the Day that Jesus will return and make all things new. This longing for “the Day” is a mark of every believer. The problem we often struggle with is, our flesh wants to hang onto the earth and all that is associated with it. We need to let go of these earthly things. Jesus told us to “Remember Lot's wife! (Lu 17:32) She didn't want to let go and was turned into a pillar of salt! And in Lu 9:59-62 we read, Then He said to another, "Follow Me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." 60 Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God." 61 And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house." 62 But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." It is the fit who finish races! Friends, we need to learn to “let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also” and have hearts that long for the appearing of Christ our King! In these Last Days, let us pray earnestly for an awakening of this yearning in our souls. “Lord give us the heart of the psalmist who prayed: “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? (Ps 42:2) and in Ps 143:6, “I spread out my hands to You; My soul longs for You like a thirsty land. The rest of Creation yearns for the second coming with Christ, (see Rom 8:20-22) cannot we do the same?