Eager Anticipation
2 weeks ago, Apple had announced the new iPhone 12 line-up. This was an announcement I was extremely excited about, having skipped 5 generations of iPhones already. Being a technology enthusiast, I had followed closely on rumours about what new features the phone should have, what to expect for the launch, and so on. I was so excited about the launch that I waited until 1 a.m. on a Wednesday just to watch the launch event! In case you were wondering, I still managed to get enough sleep and wake up for work, so don’t worry about that.
Apple had announced that the same week’s Friday 8 p.m. would be the opening of pre-orders for 2 out of 4 of the new iPhone models. What do you think I did?
You guessed it right! After my dinner, I waited in anticipation for the online Apple Store to go online to pre-order a phone for myself. I waited, and waited, and waited, expecting the store to go online at 8 p.m. on the dot.
However, that was not the case. A minute passed, and the store was down. Another minute passed, and the store was still down. I wonder how long more this would go on for until a few minutes later, I could finally place my order. It was at this point when it occurred to me, is there anything else in my life that I am so excited about that I would wait in anticipation to such extent?
As I was picturing myself waiting, the next thing that came to my mind was the second coming of Jesus. The more I thought about it, the more I realised how interesting the similarities between the two “waits” were. Waiting for pre-orders to open is very much like waiting for the second coming of Jesus. The signs are there: Apple had put on their site “The weekend’s almost here. And so is pre-order”, while we have the many signs that God had warned us about, such as famines, wars, plagues, etc. The only difference is God did not (and will never) tell us the exact date of Christ’s return, while we knew the exact date of the iPhone 12 launch. You know it’s coming, but you just don’t know when.
Several verses in the Bible that illustrate for us what waiting for Jesus to return would look like, with Romans 8:23 and Jude 1:21 being two of them. Most of these verses include words that have something to do with “eagerly”, or “anxiously”. The Bible depicts the second coming of Jesus as something that we should all look forward to, because it’s the penultimate episode in God’s story, before the final episode of all believers rejoicing with God forever.
What are we to do during this wait? There are many things we should be doing that you would have already heard from sermons before, such as being prepared for the day, living holy lives, doing good works in the meantime. Most importantly, we should never lose hope that Jesus would return, because that is His promise, and it is this promise that allows us to cling on to whatever happens to us now, and whatever may bring in the future. One day, all suffering will be wiped from the face of the earth. There will be no more sorrow, no more fear, no more anguish. That is why we can wait with such anticipation and eagerness for His return!
My reflection would be this: Can I anticipate the second coming of Jesus with more eagerness than any other thing in life? By the time you would have read this letter, the phone would already be in my hands. Hopefully, this phone would always remind me of the letter I had written for today, and always serve as a reminder that Christ will come back, and it is always time to be in preparation for His return. May we never lose hope in Christ, and may we continually look forward to His return and trust in His promises.
Justin Chua