Live In The Present

Mark 13::3-4 - And as he sat on the slopes of the Mount of Olives across the valley from Jerusalem, Peter, James, John, and Andrew got alone with him and asked him, “Just when is all this going to happen to the Temple? Will there be some warning ahead of time?”

 

Jesus had told the disciples about a time in the future that the Temple would be completely destroyed. They were baffled and confused and wanted to know if there would be a warning …a sign of when it would happen.  Jesus simply told them that there would be subtle signs that would signal the beginning of the end…but in reality everyone should watch and prepare for the future as if it could be the very next moment of their lives.

 

Jesus knew that if we could predict the date…we might be tempted to put off the task he has given us to do until it was close at hand. The signs he listed for them have truly all come to pass…except for one. We have seen earthquakes…wars….famine…persecution …somewhere in the world…but I believe strongly in my heart that everyone has not had an opportunity to hear the gospel of Christ.

 

My Life Application Bible had a note that stuck in my spirit.  It said that these words of Jesus were meant to help the disciples understand the importance of living in the present. He wanted them to be able to wake every morning thinking that sharing the truth of the gospel was their number one priority. He did not want them trying to calculate the exact date he would return…but to live each moment as if it was their last. He was telling them that the life he was asking them to live was not going to be easy…but he was going to be with them every step of the difficulties they would face.

 

Jesus is speaking to everyone who accepts Him as their savior and is obedient to His call to servanthood. He is telling us that one of the people that has not heard His story may cross our paths…TODAY! That thought should raise my attentiveness to the needs of those I encounter each moment of my day.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that you will come again in all your glory to claim back the earth and rid evil forever. Forgive me for the times that I have used the excuse …that you surely won’t come today …to be lazy and selfish for one more day. Help me to keep the thought that no one knows the exact moment to help me remember that it could be as I type the next word….to live more in the present….so I will work all the more diligently to tell everyone that crosses my path about the great things you have done for me.  Amen.