Friday, April 17, 2009

Today's Passage: Matthew 24

This is a difficult and often misquoted passage of prophecy. People take bits and pieces of these verses like "wars and rumors of wars" or other descriptions and use them to say they've figured out exactly where we are in the cosmic timeline of the return of Christ. Many have profited from these predictions (remember "88 reasons why Jesus is coming in 1988"?), only to see those predictions fail to be true.

It is tempting to try to analyze and understand exactly where we are in the Last Days, but our heart should hear the words of verses 36-44. No one, not the angels or Jesus Himself, knows the day of His return...just the Father. That's hard for us to wrap our minds around, but that is the way God drew it up from the beginning of time. If Jesus and the angels don't know, what are the chances that one of us can figure it out?

We should instead focus on the analogy of verses 42-44, where Jesus talks about the home owner and the thief. If you knew what time a thief was going to come to your house, wouldn't you be ready? Of course! We'd have the police on standby and every door locked down...if we know they are coming, it's no surprise. Unfortunately, the thief comes when he thinks we're not ready. That's why we lock the doors, have a security system, form a neighborhood watch...we want to be ready, not knowing the time he will come.

We need to be ready for the return of Jesus. He could return today, tomorrow, or in 1000 years or more, but the bottom line is when He does come, the time of preparation is over. Those who know Him as Savior will be prepared and spend eternity with Him. Those who don't and are not prepared will not...but wish they had.

Are you ready? Have you asked Jesus to forgive your sin? Have you confessed your belief in Him? If not, it's time to get ready!