(Jesus said) "But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come." - Mark 13:32-33 (ESV)
If you have been following the news, you may have noticed that there has been an exchange of words between our new administration and Iran.
As near as I can tell, every nation's new administrations, as well as most of the old administrations, have regular exchanges of words with Iran. That may be because Iran is very much dedicated to the development of nuclear power which can, and will, only be used for peaceful purposes.
Now nobody should have any problem with such a promise, should they?
The great difficulty with that promise is the leaders of most other nations have a hard time believing Iran when it offers such reassurances. That's because the rest of the time, when Iran's leaders speak, their words are pretty strong.
For example, in this last exchange, they said things like:
• "Any mistake made by the U.S. would result in action";
• "If the enemy makes a mistake, our roaring missiles will hit their targets."
The comment that caught my attention was this one:
• "Only seven minutes is needed for the Iranian missile to hit Tel Aviv."
Seven minutes. Think about that for a moment. Seven minutes from when somebody presses a button until your world goes boom! Seven minutes isn't very much time. And you probably wouldn't have the full seven minutes. It would take time for someone to decide a missile had been launched and a little more time before someone sounded a warning.
If you had seven minutes before a bomb went boom, would you be prepared? Would you be able to sit back and be content that everything was as it ought to be, or would you have a whole laundry list of things which absolutely needed to be done?
Now the reason I ask is this: according to numerous places in Scripture, Jesus is going to give less than a seven-minute warning before His return. Actually, He is going to give about seven minutes less than seven minutes.
Maybe that's why our Redeemer kept telling people to be prepared.
And how can an average Joe or Jane be prepared? Very simple: don't fight the Holy Spirit. Let Him show you your sin and lead you to repentance. Let Him introduce you to the Savior who did all that was necessary to remove those sins and promise you safe conduct into heaven.
As Paul and Silas once said to a suicidal jailer, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household" (Acts 16:31b).
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, we live in a world where death can come quickly and without much warning. Today I pray that I may always be ready for the time when the Savior comes and takes me through the valley of the shadow of death. For His work and my salvation, I give thanks. In His Name. Amen.
Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM). The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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