Yesterday’s Catch ended with “Every day God waits is another day to spread around the gospel of peace.”

Believe me, I long for eternity as much as the next guy. I long to be released from the weaknesses of my flesh that war against the Spirit. I long to be free of worry. I long for a good long rest with not a concern on my mind. And I long to see Christ face to face, and worship him, and talk to the saints I’ve studied about, and sit down with friends and relatives who have gone on ahead. I can’t wait to find out about all that we don’t know about heaven that will most certainly blow our minds.

But to only dwell on this is to miss why Christ hasn’t returned yet. It’s a little like Paul who was torn between wanting to die and be with Christ, or stay and be with the believers he loved. We hold these emotions together at the same time. We long for heaven and we want to speed it’s coming, but we understand why the delay, and as long as God is waiting, we will take every advantage we have to spread the good news of his gospel to those who don’t understand it yet.

For now, the door is still open.

The degree to which we get this is going to be only as deep and dramatic as the relationships we have with those who aren’t yet believers. If there are people in your life who you have grown to love deeply but who are not Christians, then this positive twist on the “slowness of Christ’s return” makes perfect sense. You want Christ to come back for you, but please, God, not yet for George or Sally or Deborah or Sam.

If you don’t have any non-Christians in your life that you truly care about, Christ waiting for more sinners to respond to his grace is just a concept, but that’s about all. Not enough to delay heaven. But when it’s your favorite Uncle Billy we’re waiting for, or your dear neighbor Milly, or crusty old Grady, who can’t stop cussing at God for putting him in a wheelchair, or your son, who hasn’t yet made up his mind about Jesus… then it’s suddenly different. Then this goes from a concept to something much more.

“Jesus, I really want to see you, but for the sake of these, please… take all the time you want.”