“He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’ ” (Acts 1:9-11)
I don’t think countforward is a real word, but we’re not counting down any more. The countdown was finished when Jesus walked out of his tomb alive and more powerful than ever. Now the clock is moving forward toward the day he will return.
In the verses right before these, Jesus said we don’t get to know how long. Nobody knows the hour or the day – but there is a specific hour, a day on the calendar, coming. He will be back. The Father knows exactly when.
In the meantime, we have a job to do, you and me and all those who believe all of these things we’ve been talking about all week. We have a job to use real power – the same power of God that raised Jesus from the dead at work in us – to be witnesses of what we’ve seen that power accomplish.
It’s a job that matters. And the clock is ticking. That’s the message of Acts 1.
Think: Are you looking forward to the return of Christ? What difference does his promised return make in your life? How seriously do you take the call to be his witness in your world?
Pray: Ask God to help you to make the best use of the power and time he gives to you to accomplish whatever he asks of you in this life.
Do: Read Acts 1 all the way through.