For this week’s post, scheduled to be published on September 23, 2015, I thought it would be fun to see what meanings the date had. Maybe it was National Brush-Your-Cat Day. Or, maybe it marked an important anniversary (like the invention of cupcakes!). So, I put the date into my search engine and was surprised when thousands of articles and websites popped up.
Apparently, the world is ending on September 23, 2015. No one sent ME the memo, so I did not know this. But, I don’t really mean to sound flippant. Many Biblical Scholars and scientists alike agree that at the very least, signs point to this date as being a marker for a big change coming.
Only after scrolling through vast numbers of dire sounding webpages did I see one that said that September 23rd is also the first day of autumn. I felt myself relax a little. I love Fall and the cooler weather, bright leaves, etc.
So, then a battle began in my brain: should I write about the deep and involved predictions for September 23rd? Or, should I simply share a recipe for pumpkin pie and call it good? Life has been stressful enough lately, so I REALLY wanted to go the pumpkin route, but something stopped me and so here goes nothing.
CAN we ever pick a date for the end of the world? Remember Y2K and the Mayan apocalypse? There were so many people who believed with all their hearts that those dates were valid times for the world to end. Our family knew a man who was so convinced that Jesus was returning on January 1, 2000 that he quit his job, sold his house, and moved up to a cabin in the woods to wait. I really ached for him when it didn’t happen. And, my poor brother broke his shoulder on Christmas Eve of 1999. They made him wait in pain until January 4th to have his surgery because the hospital was sure their equipment would fail and perhaps a few doctors would disappear.
History is full of such examples. Maybe that’s why God made a point of saying: “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Mark 13:32
But, the Bible also warns us to heed the signs and be ready: “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Matthew 24:44. HOW do we “get ready”? Peter tells us to “…live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God …” 2 Peter 3:11-12. We have a responsibility as believers to live our lives in a way that honors God. Our lives need to be a testimony to those who do not know our savior. For our goal is for as many people as possible to escape the terrible fate that awaits those who reject him.
When you finally read this, it will BE September 23, 2015 (or later). I don’t pretend to know what will happen on that day. If the world does end, I pray that you have accepted God’s son, Jesus Christ, as your savior. If it doesn’t, bake some pumpkin cookies and maybe share them with someone who doesn’t know God. That way, either way the day will end up being very special indeed.
