To Save Those Who Are Eagerly Waiting for Him

So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. - Heb 9:28

For the record, there is a risk in taking Ps 63:1 seriously. It may lead you to honestly pray something like Ps 25:4. And that may lead you to being undone by verses like Amos 3:8 and Heb 9:28.

As I've reflected and prayed through these verses, Heb 9:28 struck me as an indictment of how complacent my walk with Christ has become. The question in my mind and in my heart is not, "is Christ returning?" nor is it "is He coming back to save/deliver me?" Rather the question raised in me today was, "why am I not eager for His return?"

Do I want Christ to return? Absolutely! Do I expect and hope that He will return soon? Without a doubt. But where is that dimension of eagerness. Like little kids on Christmas eve. Like a young couple on the morning of their wedding. Like a parent and child separated by years of military service. Have I become so intoxicated with this life that I am no longer hungry or thirsty for the next?

It was helpful and convicting to realize the creation is eagerly waiting for Christ's return (Rom 8:19). If rocks and trees and rivers somehow know that the futility which binds them will be released and relived when Christ returns, why I can't grasp the deeper more profound truth that the consummation and fulfillment of my salvation will occur at Jesus return. And all that He intends to accomplish, all of God's plans for the new heavens and the new earth will gloriously unfold. Where is my groaning for that day?

To God Alone be the Glory