Here and There

During Christ's entire ministry and also after His resurrection- the apostles held as their main concern their own swift entrance into the Messiah's kingdom.  Granted, the timing made sense.  Now that the prophecies of the suffering of Christ were fulfilled, the promises of the kingdom of God could begin!
However, the Old Testament promised the blessings of the Kingdom to more than just the apostles and the believing Jews.  " All the nations will be blessed in you," the Lord assured Abraham.  So, Christ realigned their priorities, telling them, : The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know.
Jesus' final words to His Church came as a commission outlived by geographical parameter.  The book of Acts reveals how the Holy Spirit used the church to spread the gospel message successively; in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.  Like ripples in a pond, the good news went out... but the splash began in Jerusalem.
We should begin to be His witnesses right where we live-in our Jerusalem.  But our task goes beyond our own locale.  Like the aposltes, we can quickly crave the eternal blessings of our own interestes without considering the condition of others.  Could Christ be waiting for us to share with a certain person before He comes?  How would we have felt if believers had asked Christ to come just prior to our conversion?

Dost thou live clos by them, or meet them in the streets, or labor with them... and say nothing to them of their souls, or the life to come?  Richard Baxter

Share a cup of tea with that certain person and share the Good News! Make it an adventure and not a burden.