I spent a year on the border defending our country. Luckily, it was a very quiet time, and we were very bored. That’s where I discovered how jokes are made. 

Once, we were just loafing around, not talking. A joke suddenly popped into my mind and I burst out laughing. I told it to the others, and they fell around laughing. Later on, our tent became known as “Mike’s Place”, because of all the Mike Schutte jokes from earlier years. 

We came up with many things to pass the time. For example, we wrote letters—yes, with pen and paper—to major companies in South Africa, explaining that a care package from home wouldn’t feel complete without some of their products included. 

So, Simba sent us a huge package with their latest products and even some that were still in the testing phase. Everyone came to our tent and admired the package. We couldn’t help but share it with them. 

Because the first letter was such a hit, we sent it to even more companies, like Willards, Coke Cola and many more. Only the old canning factory in my hometown of Somerset West refused to take our word for it. They sent us a recipe book. It probably goes without saying, but this didn’t go down well. 

The common denominator in all the packages was how incredibly excited we were as we waited for it to arrive. Every evening when the postman came past our tent, we would ask again and again if there wasn’t a package for us. 

I suspect we dreamt about packages arriving. Well, that’s what it sounded like when I listened to the guys talking in their sleep at night. I must confess, they said the same about me. 

We knew something was coming and that’s why we were so excited. Only Gants didn’t want to send anything to the hungry soldiers. 

It’s actually funny that something like a surprise package can make you so excited and that you look forward to it so much. These things certainly don’t hold any lasting value. 

And then the things that actually offer us long-term, no, actually eternal benefits don’t make us so excited that we talk in our sleep about them. 

Like this one: 2… What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we’ll see Him—and in seeing Him, become like Him. All of us who look forward to his Coming stay ready … 

Wow, this knowledge of Jesus, what He has done for us, and will do for us, should excite us so much that we struggle to fall asleep every night. 

I suspect we’ll have to think about this differently. I suspect we’ll have to go sit on a rock somewhere again, so that the impact of Jesus’ coming to earth can become a reality for us again. 

We must allow what He has really done, is doing, and will do for us to overwhelm us again so that we can long with great excitement for Him to just show up at our bedside tonight.  

Scripture
1 John 3:1-3 

Reflection
Are you excited for Jesus to come again?
How can you get that excitement back?
Who should you share it with? 

Prayer
Father, I confess I may be too caught up in worldly things. I confess, Jesus’s coming sometimes feels inconvenient. I want to be excited about His return, even if it happens now. Amen.