Episode VII: The Return of the New Hope

How do your actions change when something big is coming up? Perhaps you sit down and study for tomorrow's exam, even though you didn't look over your notes once in the last two weeks. Maybe you panic because you're not sure how Tuesday's jury is going to view your most recent shoplifting attempt. You might clean up the apartment before Mom and Dad arrive, since you certainly want them to think well of you, and a nice tidy living space might help that. Or maybe you can't fall asleep because the trip to the beach is looming and you haven't been this excited since Keanu Reeves and Nick Cage retired in the same weekend (*fingers crossed*).

It doesn't take much to realize that our lives can have very dramatic changes in a short period of time when we have the right incentive. Sometimes things instill dread in our minds, and other times we become so giddy with excitement that we can hardly function properly. It's a fairly normal thing, and there's been a particularly interesting case going around recently.

I'm assuming that most people have heard by now that Harold Camping has predicted tomorrow to be the date of the rapture, when Jesus returns to claim His followers. I don't want to discuss that specifically, but I find the effect his prediction has had on people to be curious. The reaction of Camping's followers ranges from a bold resurgence to spread the gospel (regardless of their Biblical support ), to a frantic preparation for the end times. Yet again, a far cry from what many of those people's lives looked like before they knew they would be gone tomorrow.

Even if we still have to get up and go to work on Monday, why does the concept of Christ's return not inspire us more? A widely accepted psychological fact is that a person awaiting something they don't know the date of will tend to anticipate it more strongly with every passing day. I am less likely to study on Monday for a test that I know will be Friday than I am for one that could be any day this week. However, I don't see the same effect in my spiritual life.

The entire concept of heaven is beautiful; being in God's presence is something so perfect to anticipate that it should cause everything I do to be in praise. The biggest difference between this and the response from those expecting Christ to return tomorrow is this- our lives should reflect the fact that we're looking forward to something, not fearing it. We should be so stoked that we can't contain it.

Perhaps this means being more open about our faith. Maybe it means being more honest with ourselves and acknowledging that we aren't living solely for God's glory, and then asking Him to help change that. For me, it means that I can freely worship without concern for my impurities, because one day I will be praising the King in person. And my praise will then be completely acceptable to Him. That's certainly something worth being so excited about that I can't sleep.

I'm not living for this life, cause I'm living for the next one.

~ Cross Movement