How It Ends

 It ends as it began, with God on the throne. That in itself should suffice as far as encouragement is concerned. Whether bedraggled, unmotivated, discouraged, bruised, beaten, wounded, or hurting, God is still on the throne, never stepped off, and has you in the palms of His hands.

The journey is what the journey is. It may be taxing and challenging at times, but that’s because we overthink it. We do the opposite of what we are commanded to do, and rather than try to please our commanding officer, we entangle ourselves in civilian affairs, putting down the sword and shield for a spot on a panel about inclusivity and inclusion: similar words, different meanings. It's sort of like equity and equality, but I digress. I thought I’d gotten away from it, but old habits die hard, and I digress with the best of them.

We are given to know the how, yet not the when, but for some of us, that’s not good enough. When we ask for a date, and He doesn’t answer, we take it upon ourselves to read His thoughts, and that never ends well. It doesn’t matter how many times men have said this is the day, only to see it come and go with nothing more than the usual real-time collapse of culture, morals, and decency taking place, we still fall for it every time as though it were some pavlovian response. You ring a bell, and your poodle comes running for its meal. You set a date, and ordinarily level-headed folk start prematurely celebrating.

As I’ve said on occasion, if one of these people would have the strength of their convictions and sell everything they own and give it to the poor a week before, then at least I’d believe that they believe what they’re saying.

“Jesus is coming next week, but just in case He doesn’t, I’m still going to make my mortgage payment.”

If that’s the case, you’ve just confirmed that you don’t really believe what you’re saying; you’re just putting out false hope, and the laughter and jubilation will turn to tears and resentment the moment the clock strikes midnight, and they’re still here.

Matthew 24:36-39, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of man be.”

Notwithstanding the undeniable truth that Jesus said of that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven but the Father only, what was Noah doing while everyone else was eating, drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage. Jesus refers to the godless as being ignorant, not Noah. He was busy doing what God had commanded Him to do, which in his case was building an ark.

He wasn’t concerned with the timing. He cemented His relationship with God, heard His voice, obeyed God's commands, and did as he was told without complaint or excessive queries about how long he had to finish the project.

Noah obeyed. He didn’t second guess God, revise the blueprint for the ark, ask why it needed to be so big, or why it needed to be built in the first place since he’d never seen rain fall from the sky before. God commanded, and Noah obeyed. He didn’t know how long it would take, how much time he had, or wonder if the ark would be ready on time. By faith, he moved with godly fear and prepared the ark.

Hebrews 11:7, “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.”

Once Noah was divinely warned of things not yet seen, he did two things. First, he moved with godly fear, and second, he followed through and prepared the ark for the saving of his household.

There wasn’t any back and forth, no request for further information, and he didn’t ask to know the timeline; he moved with godly fear and did what God told him to do. But that’s not exciting enough nowadays. If you put out a video titled “Why You Should Repent” and another “Why Jesus Is Coming Tomorrow,” which would get more clicks and views? Even though without having repented, knowing the timing of His return is useless, they’ll still click on the video about Jesus returning tomorrow by a crushing majority.

1 Peter 1:13-16, “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.’”

Are we moving with godly fear and doing what God commanded us to do, or are we squandering the time we’ve been given with fanciful tales of when something will occur that Jesus said we could never know?

Jesus promised He would return, and He keeps His word. Rather than focus on when He will return, we ought to be asking if He will find us doing what He commanded us to do when He does.

It’s easier to have endless debates about the day and hour than it is to strive for holiness, being obedient children, being sober, and girding up the loins of our minds, but something being easy doesn’t make it right, and sooner or later we will be called to account for the time we’ve been given. What did you do with your time and talents? You should have an answer since when Jesus returns, He will want to know.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.