Two women will be grinding with a hand mill one will be taken and the other left” ( Matthew 24:40,41). “Two men will be in the field one will be taken and the other left.
They were too involved in the busyness of their lives “eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage.” If any of us lets the busyness of life distract our attention from actively watching for Jesus, when Jesus comes we will be left behind for destruction. They didn’t believe it because they didn’t want to believe it. Crazy old Noah was building a huge ark in an area of the country that had no large body of water as an emergency alert to everyone that the flood was near, but they didn’t care. Are your bags packed for heaven right now or has the busyness of life left you hoping to get at it soon enough? If Jesus returns this afternoon, what would you regret leaving undone, unpacked, or unprepared? The people of Noah’s day knew the flood was coming. We all want to be ready for Judgement Day like the Stevens family wanted to be ready for their trip, but our lives are busy too. “No one knows about that day or hour,” Jesus explains ( Matthew 24:36). We hear about them on the news and they rightly remind us that we are only visiting this planet. And these signs have been happening ever since Jesus spoke about them: wars, hurricanes, violence, catastrophes. Sure, Jesus instructs us about the “signs of the times” that alert us he is coming, as birth pains remind a pregnant mother it’s time to go to the hospital. How will we know when Judgement Day is near? “Prepare!” is Jesus’ most revealing answer. That ended up being a stressful disaster of the entire family needing the bathroom at the same time, crossing paths in the kitchen at the same time, and forgetting pillows, CD player batteries, and the fruit salad-not to mention leaving two hours late. Wednesday evening they managed to finish the laundry and find the luggage, but they were all tired and figured they could get up early Thursday morning and pack for the trip. Wednesday afternoon they had to finish last minute laundry, get someone to watch the dog, and look for the luggage still buried in the attic from summer vacation. Tuesday night ended up being packed with piano lessons, dance class, a gymnastics workout and a basketball game.
You can probably guess how it really happened. The initial game plan was that everyone in their family would pack for the trip on Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon, tidy up final packing needs before going to bed on Wednesday night, and basically just roll out of bed on Thursday morning and hit the road. The Stevens family was planning a trip over the Thanksgiving weekend to visit relatives in northern Wisconsin.
0 kommentar(er)
