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May 20, 2011:

A few months ago I received a flyer in the mail that read,

THE END OF THE WORLD IS ALMOST HERE!
HOLY GOD WILL BRING JUDGMENT DAY ON MAY 21, 2011

I didn’t read through the entire pamphlet but I did pin it to my bulletin board. I wanted to remember to check what this group would have to say on the morning of May 22.

My own reading of the Bible tells me that it is impossible that the end of the world is almost here. The end of the age, maybe, but not the end of the world. But my purpose in writing today is not to refute this group’s argument. I’d like for you to think about something else...

What if life as you and I know it really was about to end, not with the destruction of the world but with the Return of Christ? There is no real evidence that such a thing could NOT happen on the 22nd of May, or even sooner. What if it were today?

All day long the chorus of an old hymn has been going through my mind:

“Jesus is coming to earth again; what if it were today?
Coming in power and love to reign; what if it were today?
Coming to claim His chosen Bride, all the redeemed and purified,
Over this whole earth scattered wide; what if it were today?”

The fact is, you and I have no evidence that the Return of Christ is not going to happen today, or tomorrow, or early next week. Every day there is a 100% chance that Jesus could return before the sun goes down. We just don’t know. All we know is that his return will come as a great surprise. God has no intention of giving us a countdown.

So how then should we live? I’m not talking about quitting your job to go do mission work in Timbuktu. But I am talking about going to sleep every night knowing that your life is right with God. He is a God of great understanding, compassion, and forgiveness, but that forgiveness must be sought out. Our heavenly Father “knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him,” said Jesus in Matthew 8:8, but he still requires that you ask! It is a mistake to assume that God knows your heart, and that somehow that is enough. He wants to hear from you.

Psalm 62:8:
Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.

The days of our mortal life pass very quickly, even if we get to live to a ripe old age. Job was absolutely right when he said, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble” (Job 14:1) – and Job lived in a day when the average man's lifespan was considerably longer than it is today! There is no guarantee that any of us are going to die of old age. One way or another, I have connections to ten people who died this spring! None of them entered this year knowing it would be their last.

I don't write this to fill you with a dread of death, but to fill you with the urgency to live, and live well. If Jesus does not return for us this weekend, it only means that our race is not yet over and there still is more on earth for us to accomplish. And it doesn’t mean he’s going to wait another fifty years.

Romans 13:11:
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

May God bless you and keep you, and continue to lead you towards the perfection he has ordained for you. Take time to let the people you love know that you love them.

Ephesians 4:32:
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

And whatever happens, enjoy the weekend!

If Jesus doesn’t return first, I’ll be sending a new edition of the Vine & Branches magazine to the printers next week. The web edition will soon be online as well.

 

 


 

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