Daily devotion – Do you know the time we are living in according to Bible prophecy?
Living in the Last Days
Hebrews 12:1
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”
Have you ever wished you had lived in the days when Jesus walked the earth? I used to imagine what it would have been like to be there when Christ ministered among people.
Perhaps like Nathanael, sitting under a fig tree when Jesus suddenly appeared and invited him to follow Him. Or standing in the crowd outside Lazarus’ tomb when Jesus called his name and Lazarus walked out alive. Or joining the thousands on Palm Sunday, shouting “Hosanna!” as Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt.
What an incredible time that must have been!
But let me remind you that we too are living in an extraordinarily exciting time biblically. We are living in the very last days. Soon the Church of Jesus Christ will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, as Paul teaches in 1 Thessalonians 4, and as Jesus promised in John 14.
We are watching the world change in ways previous generations could scarcely imagine. Moral values are being turned upside down, just as Isaiah foretold:
Isaiah 5:20
“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”
We need to remind one another often that we are living in days of fulfilled and unfolding biblical prophecy. Daniel spoke of these times, and Jesus described them in detail in His Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21) as signs pointing toward His return.
Each new day I wake up with a sense of anticipation. I listen to the news, read the paper, and watch events around the world, and I cannot help but think of the Scriptures. It is as though the Bible is being opened before our eyes in the times in which we live.
As I drive to church on Sunday mornings, I see walkers, joggers, people walking their dogs with a coffee in hand, golfers heading to the course, and surfers making their way to the beach. I am reminded that many around us have no idea how suddenly their lives will one day be affected by the prophetic events that God has already revealed in His Word.
Last night we had the privilege of gathering with other excited and faithful believers to pray about these very things—our lost loved ones, our nation, and our church in these last days. What a blessing it is to be among people who are watching, praying, and longing for the Lord’s return.
So, dear friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, it is time to wake up from the spiritual slumber and the humdrum of this world. A sudden change is coming.
The writer of Hebrews exhorts us:
Hebrews 10:23–25
“Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
The day is approaching. Therefore, let us lay aside every weight, run our race faithfully, encourage one another often, pray earnestly for the lost, and live each day with our eyes fixed on Jesus, expecting His soon return.
Maranatha—our Lord is coming!