The End of the World

Am I the only one who found yesterday's rapture predictions to be hilariously entertaining? I have to admit how incredibly easy it was to laugh and joke about it. After six O' clock, I was like, "Well, we're all still here." And then Dad throws in as a joke "Wait... where's Kevin?" Our pastor said from the pulpit this morning, "Well, either we're all in the same boat, or the rapture ain't happened yet."

However, the truth is that situations such as we all saw yesterday are really no laughing matter. What breaks my heart is to see how such predictions cheapen the forerunner message. It makes it so much harder for others to take us, as Christians, seriously. If Christians keep making crazy, false predictions, people will begin to doubt more and more the validity of Christ's return in the first place. To me, this is heartbreaking. 

God is all-knowing, yet His understanding is unsearchable. He is not predictable or possible to "decode". However, I do not believe that that means we are not to proclaim the soon coming of the Lord. In fact, I believe we actually have a responsibility to do so. I believe that we should be crying out in intercession for our nation - a nation that is living in compromise (a dangerous place to be in) - before the day of judgement comes. I believe that, as we approach the time of the Lord's return (whenever that is), the Lord is going to move upon the hearts of people to speak out with boldness, proclaiming the coming of the Lord, like John the Baptist proclaimed the coming of Jesus - not the date, not the hour - just that it is near.  

I believe firmly that He is coming soon and that we should stay alert and awake, watching and waiting for His return. We should always have our hearts and minds prepared and ready because He will return when we least expect it, as a thief in the night. 

~

I also remember pondering the whole, too-often-asked question, "What would you do if you only had one week (or, in this case, one day) left to live?" I wondered--Would I have any regrets? Would I look back and see that I had lived my life in complete abandonment to God? Would I feel that I had made the most of every God-given opportunity, or just wasted time? Would I feel that I had loved God and loved others to the fullest?

Unfortunately, I would not feel positive on the answers to any of those questions.

You hear the saying "live each day as if it were your last". Although it sounds rather cliche, the statement stands true. Yesterday served as a reminder to me to live my life to the fullest--for God. To serve Him and love Him wholeheartedly. To not waste time worrying about the opinions of others. To not waste time on worthless and meaningless tasks (I find it terribly ironic that I talk about not wasting time while I'm doing just that on my blog...), but to spend every moment wisely.

This reminds me of a song...

"I wanna live like there's no tomorrow,

I wanna dance like no one's around,

I wanna sing like nobody's listening,

Before I lay my body down,

I wanna give like I have plenty,

I wanna love like I'm not afraid,

I wanna be the one I was meant to be,

I wanna be the way I was made."

~ Chris Tomlin