People Get Ready
People Get Ready
November 29, 2023
“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 24:37–39, NLT.
These verses are the record of Jesus describing the “Second Coming.” His first was to provide a way to get right with God. The second will be for the purpose of answering the question, “What has everyone done with the way to get right with God? Wikepedias says this: “Like many Christian denominations, the church considers this second coming of Christ to be the final and eternal judgment by God of the people in every nation, resulting in the glorification of some and the punishment of others. The concept is found in all the Canonical gospels, particularly the Gospel of Matthew.”
So, what is everyone doing with Jesus? In particular, what are you doing about Jesus?
If you are familiar with the story of Noah and the Flood, you should understand that it must have taken quite a long time for the family of Noah to build that huge boat. Keep in mind that “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. “
For the most part, the Children’s Version of the story of Noah is accurate and would be sufficient for emphasizing the important focus of Jesus’ forewarning. However, to satisfy the skeptics, standard Geological research has never found any evidence to indicate a worldwide flood. Notwithstanding, recent evidence indicates a regional flood caused by the breakdown of an earthen dam with its large inland, post-Ice Age sea. To the citizens of the region, the Flood involved their whole world and that is what they recorded. As for the animals, they were only animals from the region of Mesopotamia… so, no polar bears or gila monsters…
Cynics will, of course, reject any justification for any story in the Bible.
Nevertheless, now reaching out to Believers and those who hope and want to believe: “,,,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.”
Life goes on.
We go to work.
We celebrate birthdays.
We go to meetings.
We go bowling and play golf.
We watch TV.
We may even go to church.
We celebrate holidays and Holy Days.
We worry about stuff — material things and emotional things.
Doesn’t matter.
It doesn’t matter, because we think Jesus doesn’t really matter.
We don’t realize…
Jesus thinks we matter.
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” — John 3:16.
In the final analysis, we are so distracted by temporal things, we cannot begin to ponder existential, transcending, spiritual things… the most important being getting right with God and not being surprised when Jesus returns.
