Today’s Podcast
Today’s Bible reading plan:
Read it in a year – Deuteronomy 16-19
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Luke 12:54-57
Jesus: (speaking to the crowd) You see a cloud arise from the sea in the west, and you can say, “Here comes a shower!” And you’re right. Or you feel the hot wind blowing in from the desert in the south and you say, “It’s going to be really hot!” And you’re right. Listen, hypocrites! You can predict the weather by paying attention to the sky and the earth, but why can’t you interpret the urgency of this present moment? Why don’t you see it for yourselves?
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
As I was reading Jesus’ words today, I’m not sure I would pick the same illustration He used. We use weathermen as a joke. The only profession in which you can be wrong half the time and still keep your job. But that’s really not a very good joke. They really are pretty good at what they do. They can tell us with pretty good accuracy what the weather will be for the next few hours anyway. Do they always get it right? No, but they get pretty close most of the time and they get it right most of the time for the next several days up to about a week in advance. So I guess it wasn’t a bad illustration for Jesus to use.
Today, He might pick different examples. Not the stock market or climate control or politics. None of those are predictable anymore. I’m not sure you can pick out any signs or symptoms that give you any sure signs of what’s to come in those areas. But the point He makes is there are things that we can see and have some pretty good evidence of what will come next. You see dark clouds rising and expect a storm. You feel wind coming from the desert, that’s where the hot air comes from. If you’re in Oklahoma and see some funny looking funnel clouds in the sky, you take cover because a tornado is likely to pop out of the sky.
We see those things and we can predict what will happen soon. But Jesus told us and Daniel told us and Ezekiel told us and John told us what the signs of the end would look like and we just ignore them. We can’t see those for what they are. We look at those things and assume they are just normal everyday happenings and don’t attach any significance to them.
What am I talking about? Jesus talked about wars everywhere. He talked about division and debate and kingdoms rising up against each other. He predicted the anger and hatred between factions and power hungry leaders. He talked about strange weather patterns with no reasonable explanation and the earth beginning to groan under the weight of sin’s destructive power. Earthquakes. Strange happenings in the heavens and on earth. Drought. Famine. Floods.
So take a look around and what do you see around the globe? Earthquakes. Floods. Drought. Famine. War. Hatred. Unexplained weather patterns. We can see everything Jesus talked about that heralds His coming back to take us home with Him. Time is soon to come to an end. All the signs are there. He could return at any moment without failing His prophecies in any respect. So why don’t we pay attention to those signs?
I’m afraid we don’t pay attention for the same reason the scribes and Pharisees and the crowds around Jesus didn’t pay attention. We are so caught up in our own lives and our own wants and desires we don’t look for what God wants in our lives. We don’t look expectantly for His return. He tells us to watch for Him like a guard would a thief he knew was coming at a certain hour of the night. But instead, we do our own thing. We try to satisfy our desires and pleasures our own way. We forget that God put us here for a purpose and it isn’t our purpose, it’s His.
He created us with His purpose in mind. He made us to do His work, not ours. We inherited this selfish bent from Adam and it hasn’t stopped since. We still want what we want instead of what God wants for us. Until we begin to look for Him and His purpose for the world, we will not see the signs for what they are. We will let Satan blind us to the truth and be unable to see that God has something better for us.
I’ve used the illustration before, but it is appropriate. The signs are hidden in plain view, like the objects in the hidden picture on the old “Highlights” magazines. Satan has blinded us with his lies, but once God becomes Lord of your life, you see the truth and those objects in the picture, the signs of the times, appear as clear as day. Once you know the truth, those hidden objects are no longer hidden, they are visible and you can’t unsee them. Every time you look at that picture, the objects are right there in the open. That’s how it is with the signs of the times around us.
It’s time to open our eyes. See what is happening. Be ready for Jesus’ coming. Warn those around us of His impending return. Give everyone we know the opportunity to know Jesus as Savior. The signs are there to see. What will we do about them?
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