ESOCS Devotional 3 March 2024 – The Lord is at Hand
MEMORY VERSE: “Be ye also patient, stablish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” James 5:8
TEXT: JAMES 5:7-20
Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
9 Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.
10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
12 But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.
13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
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‘Patience is golden’ is a well-worn axiom that could never be more appropriate than in preparing for the coming of the Lord. Many a zealous Christians have in their later years resigned their faith in the doctrine of His coming back again just because He has tarried this long. However, a closer look at scripture reveals that the Lord consistently taught about His Second Coming and so did the apostles. Here, in verses 7 and 8, James the Apostle urges us to put on the kind of patience that the farmer puts on, while waiting for the early rain to enable him sow his seed and the latter rain to assure him of good harvest. The point here is that the farmer needs the rains for his seed, but he has no control over the date when the rains should commence or the days they would fall. And because this is not in his control, he necessarily has to be patient and wait for it.
In like manner, we have no control over when the Lord shall come again but we know that He will surely come to rapture us. All we can and must do is to patiently wait for that great day. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself had this to say while answering the question of His disciples (Matt. 24:3): “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Matt. 24:36).
In patience, let us retain the burning zeal and anointing upon us until He comes. Let us be wise as the five virgins who had extra oil to trim their lamps when the bridegroom appeared. There are enough troubles, temptations and false teachings in our present day to make even the very elect lose faith and jettison preparations for His Second Coming. But let none of these sufferings move us brethren; neither let worldly pleasures draw us away, for He shall certainly come as He said: “Behold I come quickly and my reward is with me, to give everyman according as his work shall be” (Rev. 22:12).
Peter would admonish us that “The end of all things is at hand, be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer” (I Peter 4:7). To the wise in heart, there are many signs in our present world, which should give us confidence that the Lord is at hand. He spoke of wars, rumors of wars and earthquakes in divers places. These are all daily occurrences. Let us therefore be patient, establish our hearts in the faith for the Lord is at hand.
- Have you ever doubted that His coming is at hand? Rebuke such thoughts and be ready, for the day is fast approaching.
- Almighty God, I pray thee to renew my faith in thee from day to day and keep me prepared for the Second Coming of thy blessed Son, Jesus Christ my Lord.
Further Reading: Matthew 24:27-31; Philippians 4:5
ESOCS Devotional 3 March 2024
