So, yesterday at church, our pastor (whom many of you know on here as Spooksam was preaching from Luke. We go through books of the Bible, verse-by-verse, through the whole book...and it really helps to 'get' things that are going on. 21:5 And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and offerings, he said, 21:6 As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in which there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 21:7 And they asked him, saying, Teacher, when therefore shall these things be? and what `shall be' the sign when these things are about to come to pass? 21:8 And he said, Take heed that ye be not led astray: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am `he'; and, The time is at hand: go ye not after them. 21:9 And when ye shall hear of wars and tumults, be not terrified: for these things must needs come to pass first; but the end is not immediately. 21:10 Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 21:11 and there shall be great earthquakes, and in divers places famines and pestilences; and there shall be terrors and great signs from heaven. 21:12 But before all these things, they shall lay their hands on you, and shall persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for my name's sake. The next book we're doing is Revelations, so this is a nice precursor to that topic. Now, I'm not here to talk about exactly what you believe about HOW and WHEN the end times will occur, but the thing our Pastor was talking about was just that: no one knows and every day you live (or stand by as someone else lives) without Christ as your Savior is a day you're gambling. 24:42 Watch therefore: for ye know not on what day your Lord cometh. 24:43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken through. 24:44 Therefore be ye also ready; for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man cometh. Now, what about this 'parachute' thing? Well, I've always like analogies - heck, if I had lived during Jesus' time, I would have really LOVED being in person listening to his use of parables to uncover a greater truth...it's such a cool way to explain things, especially seeing the 'a ha!' moment when someone gets it. BELIEF in something is NOT the same as ACCEPTING and PUTTING ON something. And the best analogy I've ever heard for that is the idea of a parachute. You can BELIEVE that a parachute exists, that it will do what it is intended to do, and that it could save you, but until you ACCEPT that and PUT ON the parachute, it's a useless duffle bag with fabric inside. The same goes for Jesus Christ. If you do not ACCEPT and PUT ON the Lord, when that inevitable plane crash comes (whether through the end of your life or the Second Coming), it will do you no good to say "yep, Jesus...He died for my sins and opened the gates of heaven and redeemed humanity from the fall" and not LIVE that. So, in keeping with that: are you sure your parachute is on, and not just being admired in the corner of the plane? |
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