Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. – James 5: 7-8

I don’t know about you, but from my youth, I have been taught to anticipate the imminent return of Christ.  So did those followers of Christ in the first century. James writes that the “coming of the Lord is at hand.” James expected Christ to return for his church and establish His kingdom at any moment, yet he understood the importance of patience.

An agricultural society certainly understood how the farmer waited patiently for the “precious fruit of the earth.” My grandparents and parents used to have gardens and I remember doing some (not a lot) planting and weeding and picking beans and digging potatoes. So, I know that vegetables don’t just appear on the shelves at Kroger, but it seems to me that many of us have lost the concept of true patience. 

James encourages us to “establish our hearts” and it seems to me that he is describing how we are to ground our lives in the good news of the Gospel. 

Peter provides us with more detail of how we should live our lives –

“The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4: 7-11).

So we wait with anticipation of what will be by living lives that glorify God day by day.