Posted by Dena on October 23, 2005, at 19:47:03
In reply to Re: The end of times? Are we in the last days?, posted by rayww on October 19, 2005, at 19:56:36
I'll be the nay-sayer here...
No, I don't believe, necessarily, that we're in the last times... meaning that Jesus' return is just around the bend. I could be wrong, of course.
On the other hand, believers of high-repute (including Apostle Paul) firmly believed that they would see Jesus' return in their lifetime! Guess what? They were wrong. And, if St. Paul could be *very* wrong about something like this, I'm not likely to believe someone who's convinced today.
In fact, believers of EVERY generation have been firmly convinced that they were in the end-times... & they were also wrong.. yet...
to a degree - they've all been RIGHT. The end times commenced with the death and resurrection of Jesus... so far the end times have lasted for 2,000 years, and we have no way of knowing how much longer they'll continue to last...
Sure, things seem worse... but we have much better communication.. sins/catastrophes which were only locally-known in centuries past (or which took weeks/months to communicate), are now broadcast within nanoseconds through the Internet.
And beyond all of that... Jesus Himself told us that NO ONE knew the day nor the hour of His return... even He didn't know at that time, having put His divinity "aside" while on earth. And, He told us to not be concerned when we heard of "this war", and "that rumor of war", and of earthquakes, etc. He told us to be about the business of life TODAY, and to not worry about tomorrow. He told us to love God with all we've got, and to love our neighbor as ourselves... and those who've been caught up in end-time madness have been among the LEAST likely to care for their neighbor, being far too busily reading "the signs", and preparing to be whisked away... many even running off to the hillside, awaiting their "departure"... not the kind of life that Jesus endorsed, nor commanded us to live...
For each of us, our individual life is "but a vapor", and each of us is here on earth for a short time, compared with eternity... and even compared with human history. So, each of us is born in our own personal "end time"... what are we doing with the days we've been given? How well are we living for Him? How are we each cooperating with His Kingdom on earth?
If we each let Him guide us through each day, asking Him to make our life, our day, count for Him, it'll be a life far better lived than one spent speculating on this sign, that sign, and what it all means...
I'd rather be about the business of looking for signs of God in His creation, and in the people who cross my path, regardless of whether they know Him or not... I'd rather be looking for signs of what He's doing in the world around me... looking for signs of someone who needs to talk, to be listened to, to be touched, to be loved and accepted as they are, to be encouraged... to be told how much He loves them.
God can handle the meanings of this hurricane, or that draught, or the other earthquake, or the war at hand ...
I figure that until we get the "first commandment" down pat (I mean, have we REALLY excelled yet at loving Him, and loving our neighbors?), He's not going to be trusting us with the secrets of the inner Kingdom...!
I don't care if I'm in the "end times" (as others call them)! How does that change the way I'm supposed to live my life? How does that change my responsibilities? He knows, and that's good enough for me. If I'm supposed to know - He'll clue me in.
[end of rant...!]
Shalom, Dena
poster:Dena
thread:568881
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20050811/msgs/571135.html