"Did you forget to shave for some reason? When you're young you can be scruffy and get away with it but not when you're old. You are looking rougher than chewing tobacco spit," Ed, my neighbor next door, informed me at the post office yesterday.
"I take it that I look a bit tired with lots of beard stubble today?" I asked Ed.
"Not even I can believe a four day church convention can leave you looking so bedraggled. I would have thought a church conference was about as dull and quiet as a library after closing. Did you miss your flight and walk home from Hamilton?" Ed scoffed.
"I am feeling a little left over from travel and the conference. Maybe I'm too old to cut the mustard of travel anymore where you hurry up and wait for hours," I answered Ed. "Just the thought that I was traveling forty thousand feet in the air going between four hundred and five hundred miles per hour looking out a plane window for hours makes me tired," I added.
"The thought of a church convention puts me to sleep," Ed just had to say in his sarcasm.
I have long known that Ed is not inspired by anything to do with church. How could I expect him to view a church conference without distaste? Ed's feelings toward the church are as old as the church itself. The church has always been like a candle in the endless darkness and wind of rejection. What good is a flickering tiny candlelight in either vast darkness or sunlight? There always seems to be something far more useful or needful than a tiny flickering candle shining as the faith of the church of Christ and of the Bible. Is the church obscure and the Bible irrelevant like a flickering candle?
Recently, there was a prediction that the world would come to an end on a specific day in May. It seemed to gain the attention of many people. Even Ed actually wondered what the Bible had to say about it. He was surprised to hear that the Bible does speak of the world ending.
Here is what it says, "The present heavens and earth are reserved for fire being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men the Lord is not slow in keeping (this) promiseHe is patient with you not wanting anyone to perish but to come to repentance...The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire and everything in it laid bareThe day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire and the elements will melt in the heat.
The Bible indicates that the day of the world's end cannot be predicted exactly. Jesus said it this way, "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angel's in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father...Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will comeThe Son of Man will appear in the skycoming on cloudswith power and great glory."
Before travel, we get prepared by checking flight time and day. That is only a small part of our readiness. We are prepared with identification, packed luggage etc. Are we prepared for the world's end? Then, every knee will bow and every tongue will acknowledge Jesus as Lord. The candle of flickering faith will be replaced by the radiant light of God.
