There are many believers out there with such great visions of the work of the kingdom they have to do. They are waiting out there for the perfect time to start. Some are even waiting for the [perfect time to begin to prepare. If you are one of such, I have an urgent announcement for you my dear one, which I think you have to take really serious:
“Behold I come quickly and my reward is with me to give unto every man according as his work shall be” – Jesus Christ in Rev 22:12
The return if Christ is an issue of “Quickly” – “urgency”. Many think, He has delayed enough that we can afford to rebuff concerns about His return. However, the several signs He gave us concerning the season of His return are all here and increasing in intensity as the days go by. Wisdom demands that the signs are proofs His return will equally be real. The global disappearance will be the biggest shocker! But how bad, I can tell you Science already has a worthy explanation to fit that.
HOW URGENTLY URGENT CAN THIS GET?
In the book of Revelations, Jesus exclaimed at least six times how quickly His return will be. Quickly means quickly.
And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. (Rev 22:12)
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. (Rev 2:5)
Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. (Rev 2:16)
Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. (Rev 3:11)
Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. (Rev 22:7)
The bible wants us quick and urgent. Our assignment must be pursued with a sense of urgency. Lack of urgency could be a dangerous disqualifier:
DON’T MAKE THE BLESSING A HINDERANCE
For God to single you out for an assignment He must trust you to have matured from being a child to being a mature son or daughter and it’s so hurting when we disprove his trust for us. It is irresponsibility when we can’t manage the comfort he gives us in line with His assignment.
In Amos 6:1 the bible says
“Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!… Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed. The Lord God hath sworn by himself, saith the Lord the God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein”.
Sometimes, what we subconsciously tell God is “Father, we are so occupied with your gifts and blessings that we hardly have time for you”. Subconsciously, that comfortable job, that easy going and lucrative career, that comfort of just a cool life becomes the very reason we can’t venture into the real deal God has called us to. It is what sometimes keeps us back from engaging the burning passion God has placed in our heart. It’s a very dicey situation. The above scripture warns that we’ve got to stop being at ease with God’s assignment for our lives while trusting in the Mountains of Samaria – the safe comfort of your job, your career, your employment, your business etc. It breaks God’s heart when we exchange the comfort He gave us for the very essence why we exist. He would be quick to offset that comfort especially if your Kingdom assignment means so much to Him and He has invested so much in you. Little do we know that when we give attention to His assignment for us, it eventually brings us to a place that far outweighs the comfort we were holding to in fear. In fact, if you must remain on that job, find its kingdom relevance directly or indirectly and approach it with that understanding.
I CONFERRED NOT WITH FLESH AND BLOOD
Paul the Apostle was quite comfortable. He was learned among a relatively unlearned society. His profession was among the top professions of the day. Alas! When he experienced God’s call and knew for sure it was God, he said “I conferred not with flesh and blood…” Look at His words in Galatians 1:15-17
“But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days”.
A lot of people keep celebrating prophecies and visions and never get started. Steven Covey called this the “Eternal Student Syndrome”.
Boris Pasternerk declared,
“Man is born to live and not to prepare to live” – Boris Pasternerk
Stop looking for countless men of God running their own visions to tell how God called you and showed you this and that; you get busy with God, doing what is there to do as He leads. What can we learn from the newly converted Paul? He urgently set himself apart to embark on the preparatory journey to destiny. It was a case of urgency for him. He withdrew and sought God directly for a better understanding and what next to do; before later going to higher apostles who had walked with Jesus on earth to seek further counsel on how to go about the vision he had received from the Lord. Many of us go the reverse and end up like the young prophet of old who respected an older prophet above God who sent him on the assignment. We must learn the secrets of the urgency of Paul. This was one of the secrets of his outstanding ministry despite being born out of due season.
THERE IS A DUE SEASON
Thirdly, is the issue of the “Due Season”. There is a due season for your assignment. Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo in his book, ”Be The Best”, explained the difference between the two Greek words interpreted “time” or “season” in the English bible. These Greek words are – Kairos and Kronos. While Kronos refers to time measurement in successions or durations, Kairos can best be expressed as “the appointed time”, or “the right time” or “the predestined time”, or “the programmed time” for a thing to happen. When the Bible says
Eccl 3:1
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…”
It’s talking about an appointed time to every purpose under the heaven – Kairos.
An assignment is not always valid. One of the characteristics of Kingdom assignments is that they are time-bound, and timely execution of each singular assignment, leads to an opening of the next and bigger one.
The understanding of due season is not just a conceptual thing but a real deal that can boost your relevance in the kingdom! God does His things on earth in due season. He has an earth calendar that He runs with.
In Deuteronomy 11:4 the bible says,
That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.
Psalm 104:27 says
These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season.
Psalm 145:15 says,
The eyes of all look expectantly to You,
And You give them their food in due season.
When God wants to invade the earth, He looks for an earthly vessel – a man- to partner with. This means we are called to work in due season. Jesus said in Matt 24:45-46,
“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.”
You have been called to give meat to humanity in due season. Jesus said “my meat is to do the will of Him that sent me and to finish His work”. Delay can be dangerous. There are lives that must be rescued. There are humanity problems that must be solved. There are destinies waiting to be rescued and that is why God has called you to do that work within the stipulated and appointed time duration called, “due season”. Luke12:24 and Galatians 6:9 also validate this fact. Galatians 6:9 gives us the hint that if it’s outside due season, there is no reward.
Apostle Paul understood that there was a due season and he was behind time, so he engaged urgency in pursuing his assignment. This earned him super approval from heaven
“…And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God… But by the grace of God… I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” (1 Corinthians 15:8-10) But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: (Gal 1:15-16)
Mike Murdock said, “Delayed obedience is disobedience”. My dear reader, you have to attend to that assignment while the passion remains. Even if you have missed your time or even persecuted the church like Paul the Apostle, what God did with Paul is proof he can re-write your story into His schedule if only you would repent, seek Him and wake up to the demands of the urgency of your assignment today.
In our next episode, I will be summarizing this topic with the earthly benefits of urgently engaging our assignments here on earth. Make it a date!
Till then, remember Jesus loves you and I implore you to engage this new week, living with a conscious and purposeful effort to do the bit of your assignment you can each day. I call it “living on purpose” God bless you dear reader.
by Nonso Aniamaka, Web Author at WiseWatchers Christian Commuinity.