The little church warmed in the summer evening, and soft light slanting through the stained glass tempted me to doze. But a specific sermon topic brought me to the service and promised to hold my teenaged attention—End Times. Nothing better than trying to figure out who the anti-christ might be (Gorbachov?), or imagining a beast with ten heads and seven horns rising from the sea.

The end of days remains a fascinating topic, although I admit one I don’t give much thought. But Jesus pointedly taught his disciples to stay alert:

Watch out that no one deceives you.

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

After all these years keeping watch feels a bit silly. Why has this promised day of the Lord’s return taken so long to occur? Did Jesus miss a prediction? No, the answer is quite simple:

Do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:8 & 9).

In reality it’s only been a couple of God-days since Jesus spoke. The Lord pauses to give every person every opportunity to turn to him.

When the trumpet sounds I hope I’m not surprised. I’m not sure it will happen in my day, but it will happen just as Jesus promised. In the meantime I can remain grateful for his patience with me and with everyone around me.

Matthew 24 & 25 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Kyle Popineau