Ok…I was going to post an article from one of my favorite Christian writers and preachers, Greg Laurie, on why tomorrow (May 21) is not the Judgment Day, as this one weird, attention getting, pastor claims. It’s funny because this guy once predicted that last September 6, 1994 was judgment day. Obviously he was wrong. And he will be wrong again tomorrow.
Anyway, as I was about to post the article, I was going to write on the “what’s on your mind” box above the article and say “I’ll see you tomorrow, and on Sunday, for sure!”. And I did write it, but right after I paused, and thought…hmmm – how sure am I that I will see all my “friends” tomorrow or on Sunday. Not that I believe the prediction of May 21 – I don’t! But this fake pastor being wrong does not make the coming of our Lord any less true! As sure as our Lord ascended into heaven, for sure He will return for His people, and to bring judgment on the earth.
Acts 1:11 "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."
But it’s not going to happen with all of this publicity. And, most especially, with all the focus on this fake pastor. When all of us are ushered into eternity, when we are in His presence, there will be no one else we will be boasting of except our Lord. No one else will get the credit, no one else will be thanked, but God. The attention this fake pastor is getting is a confirmation that our God is not glorified in what is happening.
But this doesn’t mean it’s not going to come at 11:59pm of May 20, or at 12:01 of May 22. That’s the whole point – we don’t know, we won’t know, and the Lord will not reveal it to us. Why? God doesn’t just want us to be ready and expect His coming, He wants us to LIVE expecting Him to come, ready to stand before Him, any time, any moment.
Mat 24:42 "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.
Mat 24:43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.
Mat 24:44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
That’s why the Lord never told, and will never tell. He wants us to keep watch. Not like we’re all keeping watch if May 21 is the day, but keeping watch over our lives, living a life ready to see Him anytime.
You see, it’s not just a “judgment day” that we must be ready for. We must be ready for any occasion, any moment, any day or hour when our Lord will just suddenly take us home to be with Him. Our Lord is going to take us like a thief in the night. And the whole point of our not knowing when is that He wants us living in readiness and expectation and hope every moment of our life.
So, if this May 21 prediction moved you to check your heart just to be sure, then it’s God’s way of telling you that there’s something to be changed in there, and we better not wait for another prediction before allowing Him to move in our hearts.
And so I ended up posting this message: “I’ll see you tomorrow, and on Sunday – for sure! But, at the same time, you never really know…”. We don’t really know, right? Isn’t the Christian life exciting? Keep watch…Be ready…every moment. And not with fear, but with hope and expectation in our hearts that the One who died for our sins is coming back to take us to be with Him…forever.
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