Doomsday Predictions and YOU!
Recently, it has been in the news that December 21st 2012 is the END OF THE ENTIRE WORLD! Now, as foreboding as this my seem, I think we need to take a deeper look into how we're responding to this news more than worry about whether that date is the END.
Walk with me on this thought for a second.
What if that was the date the world was ending.
What would you do? Who would you call? Would you make amends with people? Where would you go for shelter? Would you seek God in prayer? It seems like in our society, technology has merely made us information junkies.
We have to know now, have it now, buy it now; see it now without any accountability or responsibility.
No matter how much we know, we seem to want to know more.
The problem is, with all of this data we need to actually take a breather and PROCESS information.
We're all caught up in this Mayan prophecy that speaks of the end of the world happening on December 21, 2012.
I have a suspicion they too were inquisitive about the welfare of their families, their society and the relationship they had with the entity they perceived as God.
How similar our cultures are! Here we are now centuries later, pondering some of the very same questions.
Why do we need to know when the end comes? It's simple.
We as humans have a need to control our circumstances.
We want to be the master of our destinies.
Declarations like that make great movies but it's not the reality we live in.
If we knew when the end was coming, we could plan how our demise plays out.
We can not worry about the bills or mortgage and shop until we've broken our bank.
In addition to partying like there's no tomorrow, we'll have the freedom to quit that miserable job and cuss out that boss or co-worker who continually tormented us.
I know some of you may think you'd never do something like that but let's get real, many of us would.
Our lives would be one little neat bow! We should be comforted to know that God isn't a God of neat little bows.
Jesus said in Luke 12:53 that families will be selling each other out in the last days and this couldn't be more true today! Our families are divided like nobody's business and the divorce rate even among Christians has fast approached the fifty percent mark.
Many of us have had multiple marriages by the way.
Jesus said they'll be wars and rumors of wars, criminal offenses will be rampant, the love of many will wax cold and even the Shell Answer Man clergy will be confused.
In the absence of trust among one another, people are living in a state of panic.
Many have armed themselves with weapons and bought underground dwellings to protect themselves.
This sounds more consistent with our society today; not the neat, peaceful, wonderful date, time and place of our end that we are looking for.
We shouldn't be excited because we believe our daily struggles are soon to be over.
Why should believers be excited in such tumultuous times? We should be excited that we are living in a dispensation where prophecy is literally unfolding before our eyes.
We should be over the moon about the fact that Jesus is soon to return while reminding ourselves that the bible says NO man knows the day or hour.
Even Jesus doesn't know (Matthew 24:36).
He said only the Father knows.
If He did, He'd have to tell us (John 15:15) because He promised He would and He can't lie.
He said everything the Father tells Him, He'd share with the believers concerning the times and seasons.
The bible also says it'll happen as a stealth operation like a thief in the night (2 Peter 3:10 and 1 Thessalonians 5:2).
The Mayans may have put a date on the end of the world to comfort themselves or because they simply miscalculated! However, we can only have peace about the end of the age when we secure our eternal salvation through Christ.
Listen, the end of the world happens every single day ~ for somebody! It happens when we die because when we die, that is the end of our world.
Knowing when that will happen shouldn't change how we live.
We should live holy, love our neighbor and spread the gospel ANYWAY.
The bible says it's the least we can do (Romans 12:1).
The book of Hebrews says we die only once and after that we'll be judged (Hebrews 9:27).
There is your doomsday answer! Dying without knowing Christ as your Savior is the worst kind of doom because it's a forever separation from God.
I don't know about you but I can't even wrap my mind around that! With that being said, let's set the right priorities and not get caught up in such frivolous hype.
The bible says people without hope will have hearts that fail them for fear (Luke 21:36).
Our God doesn't want us to have strokes, heart palpitations and anxiety attacks over the end of the world.
His desire is to find us being about our Father's business.
We should be sharing the word, and pointing people to the cross.
The Mayans may have put a date on the end of the world but we can only have peace about the end if we come boldly to the throne of grace seeking salvation through Christ.
If you don't know Christ you will not have peace in these last days.
Consider a relationship with the Lord and remember beloved, wise men STILL SEEK HIM! Be encouraged and blessed child of the most high God!
Walk with me on this thought for a second.
What if that was the date the world was ending.
What would you do? Who would you call? Would you make amends with people? Where would you go for shelter? Would you seek God in prayer? It seems like in our society, technology has merely made us information junkies.
We have to know now, have it now, buy it now; see it now without any accountability or responsibility.
No matter how much we know, we seem to want to know more.
The problem is, with all of this data we need to actually take a breather and PROCESS information.
We're all caught up in this Mayan prophecy that speaks of the end of the world happening on December 21, 2012.
I have a suspicion they too were inquisitive about the welfare of their families, their society and the relationship they had with the entity they perceived as God.
How similar our cultures are! Here we are now centuries later, pondering some of the very same questions.
Why do we need to know when the end comes? It's simple.
We as humans have a need to control our circumstances.
We want to be the master of our destinies.
Declarations like that make great movies but it's not the reality we live in.
If we knew when the end was coming, we could plan how our demise plays out.
We can not worry about the bills or mortgage and shop until we've broken our bank.
In addition to partying like there's no tomorrow, we'll have the freedom to quit that miserable job and cuss out that boss or co-worker who continually tormented us.
I know some of you may think you'd never do something like that but let's get real, many of us would.
Our lives would be one little neat bow! We should be comforted to know that God isn't a God of neat little bows.
Jesus said in Luke 12:53 that families will be selling each other out in the last days and this couldn't be more true today! Our families are divided like nobody's business and the divorce rate even among Christians has fast approached the fifty percent mark.
Many of us have had multiple marriages by the way.
Jesus said they'll be wars and rumors of wars, criminal offenses will be rampant, the love of many will wax cold and even the Shell Answer Man clergy will be confused.
In the absence of trust among one another, people are living in a state of panic.
Many have armed themselves with weapons and bought underground dwellings to protect themselves.
This sounds more consistent with our society today; not the neat, peaceful, wonderful date, time and place of our end that we are looking for.
We shouldn't be excited because we believe our daily struggles are soon to be over.
Why should believers be excited in such tumultuous times? We should be excited that we are living in a dispensation where prophecy is literally unfolding before our eyes.
We should be over the moon about the fact that Jesus is soon to return while reminding ourselves that the bible says NO man knows the day or hour.
Even Jesus doesn't know (Matthew 24:36).
He said only the Father knows.
If He did, He'd have to tell us (John 15:15) because He promised He would and He can't lie.
He said everything the Father tells Him, He'd share with the believers concerning the times and seasons.
The bible also says it'll happen as a stealth operation like a thief in the night (2 Peter 3:10 and 1 Thessalonians 5:2).
The Mayans may have put a date on the end of the world to comfort themselves or because they simply miscalculated! However, we can only have peace about the end of the age when we secure our eternal salvation through Christ.
Listen, the end of the world happens every single day ~ for somebody! It happens when we die because when we die, that is the end of our world.
Knowing when that will happen shouldn't change how we live.
We should live holy, love our neighbor and spread the gospel ANYWAY.
The bible says it's the least we can do (Romans 12:1).
The book of Hebrews says we die only once and after that we'll be judged (Hebrews 9:27).
There is your doomsday answer! Dying without knowing Christ as your Savior is the worst kind of doom because it's a forever separation from God.
I don't know about you but I can't even wrap my mind around that! With that being said, let's set the right priorities and not get caught up in such frivolous hype.
The bible says people without hope will have hearts that fail them for fear (Luke 21:36).
Our God doesn't want us to have strokes, heart palpitations and anxiety attacks over the end of the world.
His desire is to find us being about our Father's business.
We should be sharing the word, and pointing people to the cross.
The Mayans may have put a date on the end of the world but we can only have peace about the end if we come boldly to the throne of grace seeking salvation through Christ.
If you don't know Christ you will not have peace in these last days.
Consider a relationship with the Lord and remember beloved, wise men STILL SEEK HIM! Be encouraged and blessed child of the most high God!
