Luke 12:54-57

He said to the crowd: "When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, 'It's going to rain,' and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, 'It's going to be hot,' and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don't know how to interpret this present time? Why don't you judge for yourselves what is right?

This passage points out that we look at the sky and see signs of what the weather will bring. Yet we look around us and see "signs of the times" and don't recgonize them. I'd even say that many who dosee and discern signs of the times pay no heed to them.

How many people do you know who believe we are "living in the End Times" or "His return is very soon, and so we better be believing..." or any other ways of saying what many of us know: Time is almost up for the human race. Probably, you know at leaset a few people...and quite possibly you know many. Maybe you are one of these people. I would wonder if someone who is versed in the Bible were to look at current events and not reach the conclusion that time is running short. (Even many secular sci-fi writers or scientists have reached the same conclusion, that...not for the same reason or by the same means that Christians believe, but for other reasons and by other means...Man's time on Earth is winding to a close.)

Then, how many of us who profess to believe that...who even do believe that...then go out and live like we believe it? Really, if you believe that Jesus is coming back tomorrow...maybe today...maybe next week... then are you doing something you would want Him to find you doing?

Consider the passage just shortly previous to this one:
Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching;" - Luke 12:36

Or this one, also in the same chapter:
And that servant, which knew his lord's wil, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. - Luke 12:47

Are those of us who profess to believe that Christ is coming back living according to His will and being in places where He would have us be, among people He would have us associated with and minister to, and doing things we would not be embarassed if He found us doing?

Further...if we truly believe that the end is soon, are we reaching out to people who are lost? Or do we thing we have another day, another week, another month to reach that co-worker or friend or family member or stranger who we know needs to know the truth of Christ and is dying without Him? How foolish to assume we have even one more minute, much less "time enough", if we believe His return is imminent. Are we, by idleness, sitting by and let other people die spiritually because they are without a teacher to point them the way to life?

Challenge for Today: Live as if you knew Jesus was coming back today. Of course, no one knows that He is, as no one knows the hour...but there's no one who can say accurately that He isn't, either. We are not guaranteed even one more day. Today judge for yourselves what is right...and do it!