The End of the World
By Tracy Smith
“Then everyone will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with great power and glory. And he will send out his angels to gather his chosen ones from all over the world - - from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven... However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows. And since you don’t know when that time will come, be on guard! Stay alert!”
Mark 13:26-27, 32-33
There is much attention being given to the Mayan calendar and how it ends December 21, 2012. Speculation abounds regarding the accuracy of that calendar in the past and if, in fact, December 21st of this year will actually be the end of the world. Concerning that, I was sent a joke recently through email that read:
"Dear World,
Stop freaking out about 2012. Our calendars end there because some Spanish dirt bags invaded our country and we got a little busy, okay?
Sincerely, The Mayans"
While my kids and I had a good laugh over the joke, it made me think about all the past predictions regarding Jesus' return - - or the "end of the world as we know it."
The verses quoted above (and those listed below), are the true indicator of why all those dates went by without anything happening, and why we won't know the date or time of the "end of the world as we know it." We know Jesus is coming again, but we won't know exactly when.
Let’s be clear, though: That does not mean we shouldn’t be ready for when He returns. Matthew 25:1-13 says we should be ready, but it reiterates the fact that we will not know when Jesus will appear. Things we can do to be ready are varied and many. We can make sure we have settled any disputes or old grudges; we can get our spiritual hearts in order; we can make sure we are doing all our Lord has asked us to do; we can continue to learn all we can about our Lord and His great love for all of us. Here’s what we shouldn’t do: We should not be sitting around trying to figure out when the "world will end" and fretting over all we think we should have accomplished.
As we begin our new year of 2012, be ready, not anxious!
GOING DEEPER
1. If the predictions regarding the "end of the world" make you nervous, will you commit to memorizing these verses?
2. What can you do to "be ready”?
FURTHER READING
Matthew 24:36-44; Acts 1:6-7
Along with being a wife and mother to two boys, Tracy is an administrative assistant at Oakwood, serves on the Women’s Ministry Special Events Team and leads a great group of Junior High girls.
