Shopping is finally fun

 

Revelation 22:12-16

Our family lived in Mercedes, TX for a few years. It was a regular joke for us to point to the billboard coming into town. It had the city name and the tagline "Where shopping is fun." What shopping? At the time, there wasn't much shopping available in that small town. Going to HEB wasn't fun enough to make a billboard out of it. We kept hearing shopping would be fun. Some day. Some people even knew what the fun would look like. Maybe they were waiting for us to leave because a few years after we moved, it happened. The city brought in an outlet mall and other shopping experiences quickly followed. If you're the shopping type, Mercedes is probably, finally, a fun place for you. While we lived there, we would hear things like "it's coming soon," or "we're just waiting for it." Coming soon means something different in marketing than it does to faith. If you watch the previews at the movies, you know when soon is. The latest car model is coming soon and we have a pretty good idea when. But when we hear words related to Jesus like "See, I am coming soon," what does that really mean? Soon seems like a long time after 80-100 generations have passed since Jesus. If you've ever struggled to understand Jesus' idea of soon, you can appreciate Revelation. The apocalyptic letter wants to encourage and embolden a battered community. They had endured much persecution. Soon couldn't come soon enough. But soon doesn't follow our timetables. Even when we're suffering. So, Revelation's message is to hold onto our faith because one day Christ will come with his reward. It will finally happen. The wait will be worth the struggle. And our blessing will be eternal. Stay blessed...john