What Are You Waiting For?

        “Well, What are you waiting for? Christmas?” I have heard that phrase many times in my life and it came usually from either my Mother or Father right after a brief pause when I had just received some instructions to do something. If I stood there with a perplexed expression on my face, I would get the question. It wasn't that I didn't understand the task, but I just didn't move right away and jump on it in order to get it at least started. There perhaps have been those times in our lives when we got an instruction to do something but then just didn't jump on it. Acts 1:11 says, “Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” 

          The question here in this verse by the angels to the group that were on the top of the Mount of Olives is perhaps similar to my question. The angels put it just another way. “Why stand ye gazing up into heaven?” The disciples had not actually seen the resurrection but they had seen other miracles. They knew that the Lord Jesus Christ had been raised from the dead as they had been a witness to many of His appearances for the preceding forty day. For almost six weeks they had been with the Lord Jesus Christ after the resurrection and what they were about to see was going to leave them flabbergasted to say the least. The law of gravity was about to be ignored and the Lord Jesus Christ would rise from the earth and vanish right before their eyes. They had been taught for the past several years about what they were to do and how they were going to do it. Final instructions were given to them. There was no puff of white smoke or a loud bang and no magic words uttered. The Lord Jesus Christ, unassisted by any outside force, rose straight up into the clouds and was gone. I would be inclined to think that they all stood there with their mouths open as He went up before them. Finally, they had to be pushed into action by the voice of the angels. It was as if the angels said, “What are you waiting for...” Now, the same thing can be said of us as read not only this passage but others which cause us to be stirred into action. All of the imperative commands of the Scriptures become things for us to be doing from this moment on until He comes again. The “one another” commands are followed with, “What are you waiting for...?” The command to “forgive one another” is followed by, “What are you waiting for?” The command to “Take up thy cross and follow me.” is followed by, “What are you waiting for?” The command to cast all of your burdens upon the Lord is followed by, “What are you waiting for?” We sometimes end our sharing of the gospel with someone with the words, “What is there in this life that would stop you from making this decision right now?” In other words, “What are you waiting for? Christmas? Praise God today that He is patiently waiting for us more often than we care to think.