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你有没有听过一个父亲带着孩子度过为期一周钓鱼之旅的故事呢？旅程的第一天下雨，于是他们便留在小屋内，第二天也和第一天一样，孩子们便开始争吵了。到了第三天，父亲说：“我们现在去钓鱼吧。”孩子喊叫说：“不过，爸爸，现在仍然在下雨呢。”父亲回答说：“你说得对。但是，如果我们不去钓鱼，我们只会花时间来争吵。”这个故事的教训是，当教会不是在“得鱼”时，（参太 4:19）便会很容易开始争执。

雅各吩咐我们，要耐心地等待主再来。然而，我们的耐心等候，并非没有意义。就如彼得所教导的，神不是耽延不归，祂乃是在耐心等待人悔改，“不愿有一人沉沦”，（参彼后 3:9）而我们也蒙召参与呼召人信主的事工。耶稣吩咐祂的信徒，把救恩的好消息传给万国万民。（参太 28:19）正如保罗所说的，我们就像基督的使者，劝人与神和好。（参林后 5:20）

远在雅各、彼得和保罗的年代，信徒殷切等待基督再来，有些人已经等到失去耐心了，时至今天，情况肯定也相仿。然而，当我们积极地参与神给我们的大使命时，祂延迟回来的每一天，便成为我们多作一天工的机会了。

Have you heard the story about the father who took his children on a week-long fishing trip？ The first day of the trip was rainy, so they stayed in their cabin. The second day was the same as the first. Soon the children began to fight. On the third day the father said, "We are going fishing.""But, Dad," the children cried, "it's still raining.""That's right," the father replied, "but if we don't go fishing, we will just spend our time fighting." The moral of this story is that when the church is not "fishing" ,(Matthew 4:19) it is prone to start fighting.

James calls us to wait patiently for the Lord's return. But this patient waiting is not without a purpose. As Peter teaches, God is not slow in returning but is being patient, "not wanting anyone to perish" .(2 Peter 3:9) And we are called to participate in calling people to faith. Jesus calls his followers to take the good news of salvation to all peoples and nations .(Matthew 28:19) As Paul put it, we are like ambassadors, imploring people to be reconciled to God.(2 Corinthians 5:20)

Already in the days of James, Peter, and Paul, some believers were losing patience waiting for the return of Christ. The situation is certainly no better today. But when we are active participants in God's mission, each day of delaying his return is another day of opportunity.