I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen. (13-16)
“Are we there yet?” When we say those words, we conjure visions of little children on a road trip or a long walk, incessantly asking about their arrival. Sometimes, as God’s children, we get impatient with the journey as well. We ask ourselves, “how much worse can things become, how much higher can inflation rise, how much more wicked will this society grow?” Paul tells his son in the faith, Timothy, to stay the course and hold to the truth of the gospel until Jesus comes. As if anticipating that question, Paul adds, “which He will bring about at the proper time.” Jesus is the only Sovereign, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. He is in control, and He is on time; He is never late and never early but is following the course set for Him before the foundation of the world.
We need not worry or guess; Jesus is in control, and we have to only be patient until His arrival. Our job is not to worry about when He will return but to be faithful until He does. We are not there yet, but soon we will be. We don’t know the day of His appearing, but we know that we are closer today than we were yesterday and that He is coming at the proper time. Until then, live in such a way that you can stand before Him without regret on the day of His appearing. It is as if God is patiently telling us, “We are not there yet, but we are close!”
