Tuesday: Focus on Hope
“Our Lord, come!”
Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash
Waiting can be active or passive. We can occupy ourselves with necessary preparations, expecting that something will truly happen. Or we can pass the time sighing and complaining, seeing ourselves as victims of circumstances, waiting uselessly.
Paul inserted in his closing admonitions to the Corinthians a short prayer. "Our Lord, come!" is appropriate for all occasions of life, not just Advent. We need to pray it before worship and at the beginning of each new day. We need to pray for Jesus to be a part of our homes and our offices, as well as our churches.
The phrase Paul used, maranatha, is an Aramaic word. It is thought that perhaps maranatha was a password for the early Christians who had to be on guard against enemies of the faith. In any case, "our Lord, come!" sums up the eager anticipation and hope with which the church of Paul's time waited. We, too, wait in hope for the coming of our Lord.
For Reflection: Am I waiting in eager anticipation of Christ's coming?
A Prayer Seed:
The Lord will come and not be slow,
His footsteps cannot err;
Before Him righteousness shall go,
His royal harbinger.
John Milton, 1648
