“Therefore, keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back; whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping.” Mark 13:35-36
It seems that there are two questions that continue to be at the very top of our ‘need to know’ list. First, what will Heaven be like and second, when will the second coming of Christ take place; in our lifetime?
With each new day it seems that the news of worldly unrest, especially in the Middle East…and yes, here too, is drawing us closer to the ending point in time as more and more of what should be ‘right’ is turning ‘wrong’. There was a program on the History channel recently that presented an overview of when many ‘learned’ men had determined the world would end and the most recent is the Mayan calendar that had set the precise ending date of time at December 21, 2012; oops. Do you recall how that worked out?
Whenever that ‘lights out’ date does happen, between now and then doesn’t leave us with a lot of time to reach out to the lost souls of Haiti through the witness of a young child attending a Lutheran school with a Trinity HOPE feeding program in Haiti. As we read in the thirteenth chapter of Mark, we learn from our Savior that we should not be concerned when the alarm clock will signal the end of time but rather stay focused on what we will be doing when Jesus arrives.
Years ago, the late Pastor Ken Klaus with the Lutheran Hour shared a snippet of American history about a Colonel Davenport who was from Connecticut. The event took place in Hartford in 1789 within their State legislature. “During the daytime, without warning the sky blackened and their room grew unnaturally and increasingly dark. Glancing out the windows, some members of the House of Representatives concluded the Day of Judgment had come upon them. With fears increasing, a motion was made for immediate adjournment. Just before the vote on that motion was to be taken, Colonel Davenport took the floor. This is what he said: "The Day of Judgment is either approaching or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment. If it is, I choose to have the Lord find me doing my duty. Therefore, I wish that candles be brought." A great story, stay in the Word and don’t worry about the ending time; stay in the Word.
Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you,
Jay