There has always been a sense of urgency to the Christian life. Followers of Jesus are expected to await his return and be ready. For some, the excitement of waiting becomes too much, and they mistakenly decide that the second coming will happen on a particular day. But according to Paul in the fifth chapter of his first letter to the Thessalonians, “The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” He goes on to give instructions:
“We do not belong to the night, or to darkness. So we should not sleep as others do. We should stay alert and sober. People who sleep, sleep at night time, and people who are drunk are drunk at night time. But we belong to the day, so we should be sober, wearing faith and love as our armour and the hope of salvation as our helmet… Encourage and strengthen each other, as you are already doing.”
There is a curious tension about following Jesus. We are living in the “last days”, awaiting his return, but Christians all over the world have been living in the last days and eagerly anticipating his return for almost two thousand years now. We therefore plan for the future and live on the assumption that the Judgement Day will be a long time in the future, while at the same time we live with urgency in the present as if the Judgement Day is almost upon us.