Waiting for the day

I vividly remember sitting my final HSC exam, knowing that in just two hours, my thirteen years of school would come to an end.

When the final “pens down” command was announced, one of my classmates, wearing a party hat he’d smuggled into the exam room, loudly let off a champagne popper to celebrate.

Right now, we’re also looking forward to a ‘hooray’ moment, when NSW will hit the vaccination targets and when the restrictions will be released.

Soon we’ll all be together, like we were before the pandemic, and it will be a moment to cherish.

Yet this event is nothing compared to the significance of the long-awaited arrival of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who came in the first century.

For hundreds of years, God’s people had waited patiently for the time when this man would arrive, and then, finally, the moment came!

John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, captured his joy in the words of this song:

Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited and redeemed his people. He has sent us a mighty Saviour from the royal line of his servant David, just as he promised through his holy prophets long ago. Now we will be saved from our enemies and from all who hate us. (Luke 1:68-71)

They waited centuries for that moment, and the impact was unmatched by anything in history.

Now as we live as people of the risen Lord, we await the day when Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead and to bring about the new creation.

Yet, his patience means the salvation of those who still have not turned to Jesus to enjoy his forgiveness and friendship.

So, as we’re waiting for Jesus, let’s share the good news with all who will hear, and let us patiently wait for the greatest moment in the future of our world.

JODIE McNEILL

(Photo credit: Sue Thompson via Flickr)