Message Magazine’s Online Devotional for Tuesday, February 2, 2016
This Week’s Devotional Focus is, “The Second Coming of Jesus Christ.”
“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” (Matthew 24:37–39).
Don’t get careless! This is God’s word to all of us today. One of the ways people can be overwhelmed in the case of emergency is to become lax in spite of red flags of warning.
I find it intriguing that Jesus compared the days of Noah to our times. Noah had no Internet, smartphones, tablets, SUVs, or social media. Noah had no smart classrooms, unmanned drones, or cable TV. Noah had no refrigerators, airports, or LED light bulbs. Yet, the Lord said that our days would be like his right before Jesus arrived. How could that be?
One of the things we have in common with Noah’s time is business as usual. I could assign a moral element to the eating and drinking Jesus mentioned. Gluttony and drunkenness are definitely running wild in our world. I could assign morality to the marrying and giving in marriage Jesus mentioned. We have definitely become confused about this issue. We have taken one of two sacred institutions that date back to the creation week, marriage, and shrouded it in flip attitudes, mysterious arguments, and confusing definitions. Yet these are not nearly as insidious as the common denominator called business as usual. Many of the people in Noah’s time were so caught up in the mundane things of life rather than heeding God’s warnings, discerning the sign He gave of the impending flood, and obeying His Word, that they did not realize there was a flood coming until it came and took them all the way. Never mind God had Noah warn them for 120 years. Never mind God had them build a giant boat on dry land for all to see. Never mind there was a massive parade of animals, representing every species of creature on earth marching apparently unguided into the ship to take up their safe positions.
So really, what must be our takeaway from this story in light of Jesus underscoring it? Among the many lessons we must learn well is that business as usual can lull us to sleep to our detriment. The signs of the end have been trumpeted loudly on every news station for some time now and it seems the scoffers Peter mentioned have won the public debate. They say that believers have been alarmists forever. They say that the world continues as it always has. What is the big deal? My friends, Jesus promised that He would come quickly as the signs of prophecy continue to be fulfilled. Here at Message, we have surveyed them in detail for years. We have shared the love of God for years. We have even gone through most of the Book of Revelation recently to show that our Lord will soon keep His promise to return. Let’s not allow business as usual to lull us to sleep like it did those in Noah’s time. Jesus is soon to come. Let us be ready to make our transition from time to eternity with Him.
