Today is January 6, 2021. This morning I was planning to continue with another post on suffering, but the political events of the day led me otherwise. With the Democrats winning both Senate races in Georgia, the Democratic Party now controls the White House and both houses of Congress. This means that, when Joe Biden is sworn in as President on January 20, there is no legislation that cannot be passed into law. Based on the radical nature of the Democratic platform, I anticipate seismic changes in the American form of government that will probably include intense pressure of the followers of Jesus in this country. So, while a post on suffering is also appropriate, I decided to write an article on what the believer is to do if we see that the Lord Jesus is coming back soon. rmb

            QUESTION: If you were convinced that Jesus was coming back in, say, six months, how would your life change?

            CORRECT ANSWER: Based on Matthew 24-25, where the disciple is urged repeatedly to be ready and on the alert for the return of Jesus, and based on the witness of the New Testament documents, where Jesus’ return is presented as imminent, the correct answer should be, “Except maybe in terms of degree and urgency, nothing would significantly change.”

NOTES:

• Plans and strategies that were longer-term (a year or more out) would be evaluated, then either compressed or abandoned.
• Plans that were deemed still valuable and viable would be ruthlessly prioritized for Kingdom impact and accelerated.
• Expenditures would accelerate to make sure that I did not meet the Lord with a bunch of unneeded money in my possession.

This question is more important now than ever. Jesus’ coming is certainly nearer now than it has ever been, but maybe, with all that is going on in the world, it is close in absolute terms. The believer is always to be living with their own death or their rapture in view so that they will make the most of the time (Ephesians 5:15-16). If Jesus were going to appear in six months (or if you knew you were going to die in six months), how would you live for the next six months? This is the fundamental question. What is your answer? Are you ready?

SDG rmb 1/6/2021