Today on the blog we have a devotion from Karen Rees.
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” Matt. 24:42
With a seemingly unstoppable worldwide pandemic, massive protest demonstrations in various countries, and the world’s economy on the verge of collapse, are these signs that Christ is about to return?
This is the question Christians around the world are probably asking. I know they’re asking it here in Hong Kong.
The idea that a major disaster must be a sign of Christ’s imminent return isn’t new. When the Turks captured Jerusalem in the 1070s, launching the Crusades, some in Catholic Europe saw the fall of the Holy City as a sign that Christ would soon return.
After the Black Death swept through Europe in 1347-1351, killing up to half of its population, many of the survivors expected Christ would soon return.
Certain dates also seem to suggest to some that the Second Coming is near. When 1999 rolled over to 2000, the rumor was going around among Filipinos that Christ would return in October 2000. Some of our church members here in Hong Kong asked us about it.
Only God Knows
In Matthew 24, Jesus tells his followers that only God the Father knows when the Son of Man will return. He says that the time prior to his return will be like the days of Noah when people were carrying out their daily activities and suddenly the flood came.
Waiting for Christ’s return is like waiting for a public bus here. The longer you wait at the bus stop, the closer the bus is to arriving. While only God knows when Christ will return, we do know his return is much closer than it was in 1070 or 1347 or October 2000.
While we wait, we’ll naturally continue our daily activities. I cooked a big batch of homemade potato soup one day. Another day I sent the manuscript for my next historical novel off to be formatted. On a third day I did some much needed sorting and de-cluttering of a storage cabinet.
But as I go about my daily activities, I mustn’t copy the people of Noah’s day who were totally unprepared for the flood.
Jesus’ parables in chapter 25 reminds me that, whatever I do, I must be ready to meet Christ when he returns. That includes being ready no matter how long the wait is (25:1-13), faithfully carrying out my responsibilities as a servant of God during the wait (25:14-30), and caring for the needy as if I was caring for Jesus himself (25:31-46).
