Instant gratification is too slow

Today’s first reading (Amos 9:11-15) contains this intriguing prophecy of a messianic future:

Yes, days are coming,
says the LORD,
When the plowman shall overtake the reaper,
and the vintager, him who sows the seed.

Shallow and stupid people in today’s world look for instant gratification.

“Wiser” people in today’s world know that the quest for instant gratification is a destructive trap.

People of faith know that all the gratifications of this world are destructive traps and that even the allurements that bait these traps are ultimately unsatisfying and tepid in comparison to the glory God prepares for his faithful ones by his grace.

The metaphor of Amos’ prophecy reminds us that the infinite satisfaction, joy, and contentment of God’s grace is faster and greater than anything the world can offer.

In heaven, glory upon glory will be given to us, faster than we can imagine.

The worldly phenomenon of instant gratification will seem laughably slow and horrifically inadequate.

In and through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, God extends to us now the gift of his grace, so that we may be faithful to him in all of the ups and downs of our life in this world and that when he himself calls us home we may enjoy the infinite and eternal happiness he prepares for us.