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 (NIV)
A couple years ago, there
was a lot of attention being given to the Mayan calendar and how it ended on December
21, 2012. Speculation abounded regarding the accuracy of that calendar in the
past and if, in fact, December 21st, 2012 would actually be the
end of the world. While this was all happening, I was sent a joke 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"
My kids and I had a
good laugh over the joke but 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 2014, 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
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.
