Are You Ready?

If you could get a glimpse of your life five years from today, would you want to see it?

Are you sure?

If halfway through my senior year of high school I’d been given a glimpse of my life five years later, I wouldn’t have believed it. My life looked nothing like I expected it would.

For some of us, our lives will be better than we imagine in five years. For others, five years from now may mean a battle with cancer or unemployment. So would you want to know? I don’t think I would.

God isn’t really in the habit of telling most of us what’s going to happen in the future, but in Matthew 24, Jesus actually does tell His disciples what the future holds. He tells them He’s going to return to earth one day. And when He returns, some people will be rewarded and some will be punished. He never reveals exactly when it will be, but He gives signs to look for.

Jesus also says that when He returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day…

“When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes. (Matthew 24:36-39)

On the day Jesus returns, people will be going about their normal lives. Just like they were in the days of Noah. And we won’t even realize what’s about to happen.

Does the world have a way of making you numb to the reality of Christ’s return? It does to me.

I’m not expecting Jesus to come back today. Are you? As I type this, it’s a beautiful summer day in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It’s mostly sunny and 78 degrees. I’m sure there are lots of people working in their yards, taking walks, enjoying time on the lake, playing golf, etc. They’re going about their normal lives.