Facing The Future with Godနမူနာ

Looking to the Future

Some things in life are certain. Death and taxes are two of them. In Central Florida in the summer, there is another certainty. At 2 p.m., it rains. It happens every day. You can set your clock by the thundershowers. Yet in spite of this punctual certainty, the weatherman says every day that there is a fifty percent chance of afternoon showers. Maybe the weatherman is employed by the chamber of commerce. Maybe he is just chicken. One doesn't need a degree in meteorology to know it will surely rain in the afternoon in Florida in the summer.

The Pharisees in Jesus' day were much better forecasters of the weather than Central Florida meteorologists. Jesus complimented them on their astute ability to forecast the signs of the sky. They knew what every schoolchild knows: "Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning."

But the Pharisees could not read the signs of the times. They were great with the weather, but they missed the coming of the Messiah. They missed the fullness of time despite the fact that they had literally thousands of biblical prophecies that converged on the person of Christ. It was the clergy, the professional theologians and scholars, who were most hostile to Jesus.

Jesus told His disciples that He was coming back. He warned us to be alert and vigilant to the signs of the times. We all must look beyond the red sky and look for the golden sky, a sky ablaze with the glory of the returning King.

Coram deo: Living before the face of God

Where is your focus today: on the temporal circumstances of your life or on the glorious hope of the return of Jesus Christ?