Eyeglasses are gamechangers.   They are so common we cannot imagine growing older without them.   Demographers report that three fourths of all Americans wear corrective lenses.  Without them reading would be impossible for me.  And my driving would be more hazardous than it already is.   But for all their benefits, wearing glasses has challenges.

First, they are remarkably hard to find, especially when they are on my head.   And of all the things I drop, they seem more drawn to the effects of gravity.  No matter what bridge-rest I install, my glasses inevitably come to rest at the end of my nose, librarian style.  And, most notably, they are impossible to keep clean. 

My beloved wife plants glass cleaner and lens cloths in every nook and cranny of my life.   Yet my glasses always look like I’ve been cooking French fries then banging out erasers.   If you doubt the air is heavily polluted, you are in the one fourth of Americans that don’t wear glasses.   Of course, all glass is a dirt magnet.   Its transparency tells all, readily revealing every streak, speck, and smudge.

But if there are small children in your home the transparency of glass reveals something else – expectation.   While the phrase, “wait till your father gets home” can inspire fear, it more often inspires delight.   Any family with a glass door or large picture window will find it covered in smudges from fingertips and noses.   Children, expectantly waiting for the return of fathers and mothers, press against the glass with hands and faces.  Filling the space with the telltale signs of longing for the return of a loved one.

No doubt, I am not the first to notice this.   Or make the analogy, that our lives as believers should, in the same way, transparently offer telltale signs of the longing for the return of our Beloved One, the Lord Jesus.   Years ago, NewSong pictured this poignantly in their song, Fingertips and Noses.

Up in the hills somewhere in Kentucky
In a little old school way back in the nothing
Where special kids born with special needs
Are sent to learn life’s ABCs

Their teacher, Mrs. Jones, tells them all about Jesus
How in the twinkling of an eye He’s coming back to get us
About streets of gold and pearly gates
How they want to go, they just can’t wait
And she can’t keep them in their seats
They’re all at the windows straining to see

And it’s fingertips and noses pressed to the windowpanes
Longing eyes, expectant hearts for Him to come again
All they know is that they love Him so
And if He said He’d come, He’s coming
And they can’t keep their windows clean
For fingertips and noses

She tried to explain to the kids about His coming
She tried to calm them down, but they just wouldn’t listen
They just giggled and they clapped their hands
They’re so excited that He’s coming for them
And the first thing you know they’re out of their seats
Back at the windows straining to see

Where will Jesus find us when He comes again?
Will we be like little children waiting just for Him?
With our fingertips and noses pressed to the windowpanes
Longing eyes, expectant hearts for Him to come again.

Fingertips and Noses, NewSong

Where will Jesus find us when He comes again? With longing eyes, expectant hearts for Him to come again? The final instruction of the Bible to believers is to live expectantly, longing for Christ’s return. Our mantra is to be maranatha or ‘Come, Lord Jesus.’ Is that your mantra? Can you say with the Spirit and the Bride, ‘Come!’ Or is your cry, “not yet!”

How eager are you for the return of Christ? How convinced are you that the day of His return will be the very best day, not a day of disaster? Will the climax of your life be the “blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us?” Join us this Lord’s Day, as we examine Revelation 22:6-21 and consider a how to live expectantly and cultivate a longing for the return of Christ, training our hearts to cry, “Come, Lord Jesus.”

We meet from 5:00 – 6:30 pm in The Commons at St. Andrews Anglican Church at 8300 Kanis Rd in Little Rock for worship.  Get directions here or contact us for more info.  You can also join us on Facebook Live @RiverCityARP or on YouTube.