Be Ready, No one Knows the Time.

“Seasons – even as the world goes through seasons, which cycle one after another – you go through seasons – seasons of Spring filled with colour and renewal, Summer – the abundance of the life I give you, Autumn as your body weakens and you experience more on more loss like the autumn leaves that let go and tumble to the ground, then Winter as the winds bear down and it becomes cold outside – you have to turn more and more to Me who is your glowing hearth where you receive your warmth and sustenance. But there is a beautiful season waiting for you – the season your whole life has been aiming for – a season when all light and beauty will burst in on you as you experience My presence. So when it is cold and dark look ahead – there is a light, a light which is beckoning you – which is growing in intensity. No one knows when it will be but be ready for it to come at any time. Wait expectantly as I take your hand and lead you through the season you are in at the present towards that light”

As I approached Matthew 24, I had to set aside all the theological input I have had on this subject, the second coming of the Lord and the end times, so that I could come to it fresh so that Jesus could speak to me in the present. As a devotion I read it, listening to the main points that I felt Jesus was saying to me

I suppose it is one of our greatest desires to know what lies ahead in the future. Here we have a general picture of several things which help us understand what the Lord was saying as He taught the disciples. The first thing we should see that although this prophecy covers a long period of time but there is a dire prediction which lay in the near future. The destruction of the temple which happened in AD 70. It seems to me that even as Jesus prophesied that event which would happen soon it would be a demonstration of the accuracy of the rest of His prophecy.

The second thing is His general prophecy of what the gospel era was going to look like. Wars, famine, earthquakes, false Messiah’s, false prophets, multiplying lawlessness would be a reminder of one key fact – His return. So when we see these symptoms in the world our reaction should not be one of despair, but of acknowledgement that His prediction of the end of time is really true and we should be looking forward to that and especially be obedient to vs 14, to preach the gospel at every known opportunity.

This chapter calls us to rise up above the daily grind and bad news and see the vast panorama of God’s plan unfolding. It is also a warning that we are going through the time of tribulation. That the tribulation may escalate towards the end time is very difficult to measure, because we can never imagine the terrible tribulation that the early Christians experienced. There are many other times in history which have been extremely difficult. The tribulation has appeared to ebb and flow over time, yet we also, each one of us experience our personal tribulation, as we move on this path through the wilderness.

The one thing that this passage left me with was a sense of the urgency of Jesus’ message. look at vs 33 “He is near – at the door”. And the whole of the paragraph from vs 36 – 44, ending with these words: “This is why you also must be ready, because the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect”.

As many of our readers are already in their Autumn and Winter season, there is the wonderful comfort. Jesus is our goal and the end of our travail. He will come again. Whether we meet Him on the clouds or when He comes to fetch us. He is there at this very moment beside each one of u, caring for us, protecting us and ready to take us with Him. All we should be doing is keeping on the path He has laid out for us and look forward to His words, “Well done you good and faithful servant”.

May He bless you and make His face shine on you this coming week.