Patience is important but difficult in today's world. We have come to expect instant results in so many areas of life.
The farmer, the gardener, and the craftsman all understand the need for patience. You can't hurry the weather, or control the sunshine, and work done by hand is painstaking and slow.
However, we have instant replays of sports games; we use microwaves and instant pots to cook meals in minutes. Cars go faster and faster, and computers give us information almost faster than we can type the questions.
James is letting the early Christians know that they, too, must have patience as they await Jesus' coming back in glory. Just like them, we need patience.
To me this says that we need to live each day as if he is coming soon, and keep living as Jesus wants us to even if it means we will spend years doing so.
In the long run, it doesn't matter whether or not Jesus returns during our lifetime. We will be judged at the time of our death. We don't want to be found unworthy.
I never worry about the end of the world for this reason. I only need to be concerned with my end!
The way we live each day, the choices we make to live as Jesus calls us to live, the way we work for justice, will determine whether we spend eternity in the kingdom or not.
The kingdom of the Lord is at hand for each of us even though we don't know the day or the hour. Let us work each day to be prepared to meet Jesus when he comes for us.
