The Kingdom is At Hand - Quit Waiting!
Jesus said “the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”” (Mark 1:14–15 ESV)
The waiting is over, he said. The time is fulfilled. The prophecies are fulfilled. You need not wait, the kingdom is here, you can take part in it now!!!
We don’t like to wait, do we?? There are many things in life that we want, but can’t have. There are many things that we want, but have to wait for. And this frustrates us!
Seize the Moment
In our faith, there are many times when we are by God told to wait. There’s a classic verse in Isaiah that says those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar on wings like eagles, they will walk and not grow weary. And sometimes we should wait – sometimes we need to be patient for God to open doors and not try to force them open.
But friends, there are other moments when God said ok now is the time to move!
- When the Israelites were on the brink of the Promised Land, they hesitated. They
wanted to just hold off for a while and God was saying no, go take possession of the
land, the time for waiting is done!
- When they were about to cross the river Jordan, God said to Joshua why are you
sitting around? Go and DO IT!
- And so, when Jesus came, he said the kingdom is here NOW. Don’t wait around. Don’t
hesitate. Don’t put it off. NOW is the time, TODAY is the day, a new life is available now.
In fact when I first spoke to The Church of the Nazarene Boksburg about starting an English service, it was July 2022. The plan was to begin the English service in January. But a few weeks later Rev. Pieter said to me why wait? Why January? We believe God wants to do something here, let’s go!
Embrace the Present
So we started in the September, and God just pulled a community together and started doing great things here! I’m so glad we quit waiting!
Imagine the South Africans, in 1947, who had longed for their glimpse of that royal family, on the day the royals came to their town saying “Naa, we’ll wait for their next visit. The couch is too comfy. The drive is too far. The crowds will be too big. Let’s just chill.” They’d have missed out.
How much more do we miss out when we say “I’ll come back to God later. I’ll give this Christianity thing a good go… later. I’ll start on the praying and Bible and all that… later.”
What are you waiting for? The time is fulfilled! The King is here!!! His Spirit is here today, and you can encounter him now… if you’ll open your heart.
Let’s quit waiting my friends! The kingdom is at hand. Live for Jesus today.
