The End is Near...but does it really matter???

Mark 13:24-37 is one of those passages that is a favourite of the prophets of doom. Everything about the words of Jesus points to the signs that will precede the coming Day of the Lord...or the end of the world...or the Day of Judgment. (you choose your favourite descriptive phrase for this coming day) However, if we only see these words as applying to this future event we are the poorer for it.

We need to hear these words of Jesus as applying to our life here and now. Not as clues to the actual coming day, but as reminders that we need to be living each day as people who are prepared for our Lord's return. Like the servants in the brief parable mentioned in verses 34-37, we need to be doing the work that is before us so that when the master returns, he finds faithfully carrying out the tasks he has assigned us. Now it is not rocket science to work out what it is we are to be doing with the life and time we have been given. There is no secret code that has to broken that will unlock the will of God for us. He makes it all very plain in the life and teaching of Jesus who simply said, "Love one another as I have loved you."

In these words God calls to us to live out our lives as his servants through our daily witness, our compassion, our care, our love, our grace, our every attitude and action. So to put it another way:

What if you knew you had only one month left in your life?
• Would you finish up important matters at work?
• Would you travel to a place you always wanted to go?
• Would you pray more, go to church more, do that generous act you always wanted to do for others?
• Would you find ways to leave a mark on the world?
• Would you reconcile a fractured friendship?

Funny isn't it, but that we are often better stewards of all the things God has given us in this life when we know that our last days are here. Something about the idea of last days sharpens our focus. Helps us choose more wisely. Gives us clarity to determine what is most important. Encourages us to have a more generous heart. So the question is: Why do we need to be under threat of death to be better stewards?