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A Prayer About 2nd Coming Loving

     The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:7-10

     Dear Jesus, may Peter’s words sink and settle deep into our heart. If we really believed “the end of all things is near”… if we really believed your return could happen within our lifetime, it would definitely make a significant difference in how we live and love.

     Whenever we attend a funeral, we always go away with a sense of our mortality and the fragility of life. At least for a few days, we hug loved ones a little tighter and linger a little longer in conversations. But then it’s “back to normal,” and the same old harried pace takes over and the same old broken patterns in relationship resume. Normal sinners loving as normal sinners do.

     Rather than covering sins, we get irritated with one another’s sins… rather than welcoming one another without grumbling, we guard our own space with complaining… rather than using your gifts to serve each other, we hoard your gifts to satisfy ourselves… rather than administering your multi-faceted grace to one another, we withhold it from one another. Yet, “the end of all things is near.” God have mercy on me, the sinner.

     Jesus, please bring the gospel to bear in fresh and powerful ways in my way of relating to others. I don’t want to love by guilt, but by grace. I don’t want to love by fear, but by faith. I don’t want to love with a heart of manipulation, but with a heart of ministry. I don’t want to love with a view to another funeral, but with a view of your 2nd coming. I don’t want to love to get anything, but because I’ve received everything in you.

     Jesus, you’re the one who loves us deeply. You’re the one who’s covered, not just a multitude, but all of our sins. You’re the one who always offers us hospitality without grumbling. You’re the one who’s always serving us and give us more grace, in all its forms. Live in us and love through us, whether you return in 15 minutes or 1500 years. So very Amen, we pray, in your faithful name.

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