Not
long ago I received an email that warned me that the area I live in (the west
coast of North America) will one day experience an earthquake, not a small one,
we have experienced those before, but one with a high number on the Richter
scale.
Be
prepared it said, do this and have that, all excellent advice.
It
reminded me of a passage I read shortly before that, it said:
“And
you will be hearing of wars and rumors of war; see that you are not frightened,
for those things must take place, but
that is not yet the end. For nation
will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places
there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs”. Some
may recognize this as a quote from Jesus in a private conversation with His
disciples.
Wars
and talk about wars are nearly always going on somewhere in the world.
Earthquakes, slight ones and severe ones, are no exception either. Famines are
not very common in most parts of the world. Other areas have a continual
problem to feed the people.
The
purpose of Jesus statement was, and still is, that life on earth will get worse
before it gets better. Birth pangs are still here.
Hurricanes,
large forest fires, floods, droughts, etc are part of our lives. Are they birth
pangs? Yes, they are!
A new life does start when the
birth pangs are over! This new life starts with
the answer to the disciples’ question: Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
Are
we only hearing and not listening? Are we only looking and not seeing?
References
are from the New Testament, the gospel of Matthew chapters 23 and 24. I
strongly recommend reading those chapters as a complete background. They are
the words of The Almighty!
