I have noticed a lot of end time kind of talk in my life. From a lot of different sources and I am wondering if it’s time to just blow a hole in their foolish logic. These people get up and they make it sound over and over like the second coming is imminent with the goal of getting people to immediately repent and get their life on track, and maybe it works, for awhile. Then the second coming doesn’t come and these people start to fall to the wayside once again. Then over time, more and more, people began to disconnect from that speaker. I think it is because the more times they say it, the less credible they appear. Because their entire focus lays entirely on the idea of a quick change before ‘it’s too late.’ That people HAVE to act NOW while the danger is present and real.
The problem with this attitude is that over time it ends up leading to complacency. There have literally been fables written warning against this kind of behavior. The best example that I can think of is, The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Over and over the boy cried out to the townspeople that there was a wolf among the sheep-a ploy to get them to react to an immediate threat. The first several times the boy cried out the townspeople rushed out immediately to address the threat, knowing that urgency was required or there would be a loss. But then, as time went by and the boy kept calling, that sense of urgency faded in the townspeople. After all, why should they rush out there? They already rushed out there ten times only for there to be no wolf. Why trouble themselves to stir, only to once again find no wolf at their door? And so they became complacent and no longer stirred when the boy cried wolf.
But, just because the wolf doesn’t come the first ten times you come running, doesn’t mean that he will never come. You must always be ready for the wolf. The message about what was important got lost in the superficial urgency of the call.
Although the story is different, the concept remains the same. If we preach on the end times as an immediate threat to take action on, we miss out on the true importance in the message. That we are to always be ready for we do not know when Jesus will return. It’s like what Paul says to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:4, ‘be ready in season and out of season.’
“preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”
-2 Timothy 4:2 NASB1995
We should not be waiting for someone to call out in urgency, saying, ‘Hurry up, for the kingdom of heaven is near.’ We are to be ready in every season, for all we truly know is that the ‘Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.’
“For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.” -Matthew 24:44 NASB1995
He is not waiting for a specific date, expecting you to procrastinate and wait until the last second to seek Him. He is saying what the prophet Isaiah has already said,
“Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.” -Isaiah 55:6 NASB1995
At the end of the day, the true message is simply this: Be ready. In season and out of season. Every single day of your life. That’s it.
Be Ready
Remember this, God loves you. He wants you to spend eternity with Him. He doesn’t want you to wait to seek Him-but rather to seek Him now. To be ready every single day for the day He calls you home. Whether you go Home in the rapture or you go Home through the death of your physical body, it’s doesn’t matter. The message remains the same. Be Ready.
Image created by Mel Seeley in collaboration with Google Gemini
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