Maranatha

"What does Maranatha mean?" I asked my husband as he got back in the car. I had been listening to the radio while he went into the store for an item. A singing group was singing "Marantha," and as many times as I've heard the word used as a church name or Christian fellowship group, I'd never thought much about its meaning. Howard said he thought it was a greeting or salutation.

In a way, he was right, for when I looked it up when I got home, I found it is an Aramaic word meaning," For the Lord is coming," or "Come, O Lord," something the early Christians used to say as a greeting. In fact, in I Corinthians 16:21-22, Paul writes, "The salutation of me, Paul with mine own hand. (22)If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha." Anathema:(1) a thing or person accursed or damned. (2) a thing or person greatly detested.

It was a beautiful first day of Spring, and we had been out in the country watching our son and family build a deck. The weather was delightfully warm, if very windy, and the view of their pasture with a farmstead nestled on a hill beyond the stream was positively picturesque. Across the road, a weathered barn with animals scattered about could have been a scene lifted from an old-world country.

We were amazed at the building skills our son exhibited, both for this project and for a room addition he had constructed last week. His architectural bent and draftsman training were very much in evidence, although I had not known him to build anything like that before. It is wonderful to see the innate gifts in your children even as we wonder where they got them!

Sunday was the last session of our study course we have been attending on Sunday nights. It had been largely about David, and his trials with Saul as he came into leadership. The subject came up of the band of men that gathered with David in the cave of Adullam. The Bible says they were distressed, in debt, and discontent. The pastor posed a question,"What do you think of when you think of these men?" to which I quipped, "The Island of Misfit Toys!"

They were considered misfits, but in the end they were referred to as David's mighty men! They had strengths within them that came out under David's influence and are remembered as doing great exploits! The consensus of the class was that everyone has his own gifts, and it is useless and wrong to compare oneself to others or be envious of what they may be able to do. We agreed that God has given each of us unique personalities and capabilities, and we should be true to our particular calling.

I look forward to the day when the hope of Maranatha is realized and to be welcomed in heaven where God has a marvelous future for us and a fulfillment of all we are meant to be. "Even so, Come Lord Jesus."