In my heart I know I should be excited about the Lord’s return, longing for Him to return to this place and restore it every moment. Unfortunately, I can’t pray “thy Kingdom come” (swiftly, anyhow), because underneath this prayer is a feeling that I want to do more for His Kingdom to accrue reward on the day of judgement. I feel like “If given just one more year of hard work I can give away X amount of money or try and bring this person or that person to the Lord… etc.” How do I get around this wrong thinking?
In 2 Tim. 4:8 Paul tells of a crown of righteousness that will be awarded to all who long for His appearing. By hoping the rapture won’t come until you’ve had more time to do something for the Lord you risk disqualifying yourself for this crown without any assurance that you’ll accomplish anything even if you’re given more time.
Remember, in John 15:5 Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” That means only things done at His direction and in His strength out of gratitude for what He’s done for you will count for anything in the Kingdom. This is the gold, silver and precious gems spoken of in 1 Cor. 3:10-15. Even if you wanted to you can’t just run out and do some good works. The minute you think you’re accruing rewards for yourself, your selfish motives will disqualify you, and your works will be like wood, hay, and stubble, burned up in the fire. You’re better off longing for the rapture and trusting that if the Lord needs you to do something for Him before the rapture, He will call you.