Focus on the Here and Now

Today I read 2 Peter 3 which I was surprised by the fact that it focused quite a bit on the Second Coming of Christ. I can certainly understand how the people of the day were anxiously awaiting the return of the Savior as they had been told by angels that He was coming back. The people however did not realize that Jesus was not going to be coming back until the end of the world. Peter tries to explain this to them by helping them understand that one day to the Lord is 1000 years to us. Peter also explains to the people that the Lord is not delaying His coming just for the sake of delaying it, but rather He delays it out of justice so that all might have a chance to repent and return to Him.

I sometimes wonder if the people were so anxious for Jesus to return so quickly because they did not understand the scriptures and prophecies, or because those who had not seen Him during His mortal ministry wanted to have the same type of experiences that the Apostles had when He was alive. Or perhaps they, like we do now, are sickened by the sin and iniquity around them and knew that Jesus' Second Coming would put an end to it. There is no easy answer because it is not written down and those people have been dead for thousands of years. But I imagine it was a combination of the two. Ever since people first heard that Jesus was coming again some day, they have been looking for Him to come back. It's human nature. It's like Christmas, it's all most children look forward to all year long from the minute they finish opening their packages until they wake up 365 days later. Humans have a very hard time living in the here and now, we are always looking forward to the next big event.

I fall into this same trap. I keep envisioning how wonderful it will be when the Savior comes again and at times do not stop to take advantage of all the wonderful things going on around me right now. There is a lot that is wrong in the world right now, but there is a lot that is good too. I love to spend time with my family and watch my daughter explore the world. I like to help those in need and have a job that enables me to do so. My life is really good, so why am I focused on the future when I really only need to worry about where I am right now. We need to focus on just taking life one day at a time. If we can do that, then we will be in a good place and it won't matter when the Savior comes again, we'll be ready for it. Until tomorrow.