“So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy.” – John 16:22 (NLT)
“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in Me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33
I cannot help when I read this but feel the deep cry and longing in my heart for the coming of Christ. My heart’s cry is to see Him and to be with Him. And this is the same cry that all the disciples had ever since His ascension into Heaven. “Maranatha! Our Lord, come!” Can you imagine the emotion with which the apostles cried out this longing?? They walked with the Lord Jesus for 3 years. They were as close to Him as anyone could’ve been at that time. Then suddenly, He went back into Heaven, where He resides at the right hand of the Father until the day of His return.
This should be the cry from the heart of every single believer. The longing for the returning of our Lord, to be with Him and reign with Him for all of eternity! If this doesn’t stir up a deep longing and wail within your heart, I question the level of intimacy and understanding you have with Jesus. If this cry doesn’t lead you to desperation for Him and a dissatisfaction with anything but Him, I question what idols are controlling and dictating your life.
If the cry of your heart is not that of maranatha, then are you truly saved by the One in whom you claim to trust?
I went to bed last night and woke up this morning with a burden on my heart. As I have been seeking the Lord concerning it, the only thing that seems to alleviate it even a little is the crying out in desperation for Him! Even as I write this, I am overwhelmed with the weightiness of this cry from my heart. I want Him! I long to see Him. I cannot be satisfied with anything less than my Lord and my Savior Jesus Christ!
As I see the world, the evil that is continuing to grow and strengthen, my heart’s cry is that of Paul from 1 Corinthians 16:22, “If anyone does not love the Lord, that person is cursed. Our Lord, come!” Paul’s cry is that of maranatha. Come Lord Jesus! He tires of the world and the evil people who do not love the Lord. He did not lose sight of his purpose on the earth, but still his heart cried out maranatha! Yet we in our culture today cry out if worship goes too long, or it makes us uncomfortable, or ________. How dare we not express the same longing that all the apostles carried in their hearts until their deaths! In fact, this longing is the very reason why they counted it as joy to die for the sake of Christ. Their death meant they would see their Friend, their Lord, their Savior again.
Let all of creation cry out in unison, with one voice, until the return of our Lord:
Maranatha!
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