I realized that I have dropped the ball on this blog... I actually started this post several weeks ago, but never finished it... so I will now.
The last few weeks sure have been filled with all sorts of craziness! We've seen Earthquakes and Tsunamis with untold devastation and fears of everything from lost homes to Nuclear Meltdowns (which since I started writing this several weeks ago, has been upgraded to a Chernobyl level disaster). We've been and continue to be witness to unrest and uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East... with violence breaking out, lives being lost, military action, and threats of war yet again. We continue to deal with political disagreements, joblessness, and economic woes that never seem to go away and often times seem to be getting worse. It seems as though things are falling apart...
So what are we to do through all this? How can we reconcile a good, loving God that is in control of this world when it seems that everything is going wrong?
Jesus, speaking to his disciples, addresses this exact subject at roughly this time in His journey towards Jerusalem and the cross.
Matthew 24:4-8 Jesus Says, "Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains."
He says roughly the same things in Mark and Luke... knowing full well that things like these would be happening!! He said these things about 2000 years ago and they are happening today... they've been happening since that day.
Now I am certainly not going to make any prophetical predictions about when Jesus is coming, but I think that events like these serve as yet another reminder that, as Jesus said, "I am coming soon." I think this should give us a sense of urgency that time is running short for us and we need to be spreading the good news of the Gospel!
Christianity cannot just be a spectator sport anymore...
Going to Church once a week is not and cannot be enough...
Its time that we Stand up and step out!
Matthew 24:9-14 says, "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."
Times are tough... they have been tough and they will be tough... but we have assurance from our Lord and Savior that if we stand firm through this, we will be saved.
The time has come for us to Stand...
