A Sure Expectation

Titus 2:13 (KJV) Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ…

Many times during my tour of duty in the USMC I had the opportunity to participate in Orienteering and Map Reading training. I remember one time we had been given a course of instruction. We were given maps and compasses. We were given particular routes we had to follow. We were all to end up at the same destination but were to get there along different paths. No prizes were awarded to being 1st. The satisfaction came in reaching the camp and resting from the journey.

In our “race” of life we all have different paths to walk. Sometimes our path is easy, sometimes it is hard. There are obstacles, seen and unseen. There are dangers, known and unknown. Often times the map is hard for us to read. We may get turned around and a lose our way for a time. We may falter or even get stopped in our tracks by some adversity. In the midst of all this there is one thing we can know for certain. He, Jesus Christ, is coming back and we shall be with Him for all eternity.

One of the great things about our Christian race is that we will all arrive at our final destination. We will all cross the finish line. We may have different opinions on when and how that finish line appears. Is it pre-tribulational, post-tribulational, mid-tribulational, pre-wrath, pre-millennial or a-millennial? Whatever your particular belief may be of End Times or prophecy, we may be assured of this…. He is coming again. We will see Him face to face.

The path you walk will not go on forever. There is an end in sight. This is a comfort to the believer. 1 Thessalonians 4:18 (NKJV) “Therefore comfort one another with these words.” Paul tells us Titus in 2:13 that this is a “blessed hope”. This “blessed hope” involves a sure expectation of receiving that for which we are hoping. He will appear and it will be glorious!

Read these words of a beautiful hymn written by Jim Hill…
There is coming a day, When no heart aches shall come, No more clouds in the sky, No more tears to dim the eye, All is peace forever more, On that happy golden shore, What a day, glorious day that will be.

What a day that will be, When my Jesus I shall see, And I look upon His face, The One who saved me by His grace; When He takes me by the hand, And leads me through the Promised Land, What a day, glorious day that will be.

May God bless you in your race. Be encouraged and have hope. He is coming again. It will be a glorious day. Amen!