Today Is The End?

Scripture:
Matthew 24:1-8 (NASB)

Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. And He said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”

As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

Devotional:

It seems that over the years people have been predicting the end of it all.  We have had wars and natural disasters all over the world through the centuries.  There have been dictators who have nearly conquered the world over and over.  Yet none of them have led to the end of the world.  I have heard people tell that the end is near even today.  Recently it was predicted the end would happen and Christ would come.  That appointed day came and went.  Still here we are.  People gave away fortunes and walked away from families and careers because they were misled.

Jesus himself tells us that no one knows except the father, God.  We are given signs to watch for.  We are told to expect Him at anytime.  However, we cannot just pine away our lives because we believe the end is here.  I know several people who believe we are in the beginning of the “end-times.”  I myself do not necessarily believe it.  I see signs that we could be.  I will not say we are not in them.  However, I choose to live my life as if Christ’s return is still yet to come, many years from now.  A part of me wishes He would return now, and a part of me doesn’t want to see the end of the world.

But is it really the end of the world?  Or, is it just a new beginning?  Our bodies will die and our life in this world will end.  Then a new life will begin either in heaven or elsewhere.  This world will someday end.  Then a new earth will be born.  The bottom line is that none of us knows when the end will come.  We cannot live as if it is here tomorrow doing nothing.  We must live as if it is coming soon and prepare as best we can.  When it does come we must be ready.  We must reach as many lives as we can.  Let us work as if there is no tomorrow but live as if today will never end…