Luke 21

“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭21‬:‭34‬-‭36‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Here Jesus reminds us again of His impending return, and that we need to be prepared for that day.  It has been almost 2,000 years since these words were spoken, but that does not decrease their importance or validity.  People have a tendency to lose that sense of urgency, when day after day goes by and it seems that we are no closer to His return.  Make sure not to slip into a rut of day to day living, where it is easy to lose focus on eternal things.  How can we be sure that the second coming of Christ is really going to happen?  There are over 300 prophecies from the Old Testament that Jesus fulfilled while He was on Earth.  One example is from Isaiah 7:14 (written 700 years before the birth of Christ): “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.”  As we all know, Jesus, in fact, was born to the virgin Mary as predicted.  Another example is from the book of Amos, written about 750 years before Christ: “‘In that day,’ declares the Sovereign Lord, ‘I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight’” (Amos 8:9).  During Jesus’ crucifixion the earth did go dark in the middle of the day (See Matthew 27:45, Mark 15:33, and Luke 23:44). Here is one of many resources available to evaluate these prophecies for yourself: https://accordingtothescriptures.org/prophecy/353prophecies.html

Because there are hundreds of prophecies, even with specific details, that were fulfilled by Jesus, we can absolutely trust that any prediction made by the Bible is going to happen.  There are also hundreds of end-times prophecies that have not yet occurred, many of which revolve around horrific punishment for unbelievers and rewards for believers of Christ.  So how do we stay prepared for His return?  The best preparation we can have is to trust that Jesus has already finished the work necessary for our salvation.  We need to accept this fact, and follow His teachings, such as: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31).  If you follow these commandments as guiding principles in your life, you will be able to stand before God on the day of judgment without fear of punishment.  His grace has allowed us the freedom to know that, through Jesus, we are righteous in His eyes.  Are you feeling like your spiritual senses are dulled by anxieties or worries about daily living?  Sharpen your senses today by spending time with God in prayer.  Ask Him to help you emerge from your rut, and do not let the cares of this life weigh you down.  “Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken” (Psalms 55:22).