Message: In Luke 21 Jesus predicts the
destruction of the temple. When his disciples asked what kind of signs there
would be he begins to describe the events of the end times. I hear people constantly
talking about the end times as if it’s an event that wouldn’t begin until we
were near the coming of Jesus. Every time bad things go on in the world people
say “we’re in the end times”. When I read this I believe the end times began as
soon as Jesus died on the cross. The earth has been in a state of decline since
sin entered the world, but Jesus spoke about the end times specifically as he
prepared for his death on the cross. They are described like labor- beginning
slowly but progressively getting worse as time goes on. What surprises me is that
the people that seem to talk obsessively about “the end times” seem to be the
people who know about God, but live on their own terms. It seems like they see
themselves as permanently “in”, and that their job is to point out the evil in
the world.
Command: Know the signs.
Promise: God will give us what we need to not
only survive the end times, but help other people thrive.
Warning: Don’t get caught sleeping or going
through the motions!
Application: As I read about the end times I
thought about all of the signs Jesus described and how everyone assumes these
things will all happen at the “END”. I think many of these things have already
been in progress for a long time so instead of wondering if we’re in or near the
end times, I feel an urgency as I look around me. Many of the people I’m
connected to on social media have a completely closed heart towards the idea of
God. When I began my adventure of writing a blog, it was out of a desire to see
people know who God really is without all of the built-in perceptions and
reservations that people have developed out of their painful life experiences.
I don’t know how to reach them all, but I pray that I could reach some, and
help them discover who God is through their own journey of reading the word.
The challenge for my own life is that I would be careful of getting stuck in a
pattern of “going through the motions” as the world deteriorates. Just because
I know I’m “in” does not mean I have the luxury of going to sleep and waiting
it out until judgment day. Now more than ever it’s time to be passionate and
filled with purpose. Not just for my own sake, but for the sake of millions of
people who are lost, or stuck going through the motions.
