Well here we are continuing to keep our distance from each other more than one month after "stay-at-home" orders were given by officials. Many questions remain: Has this really slowed the spread of the virus? If distancing orders are relaxed will there be a surge in cases? How much longer can people continue to be sequestered? How much longer can the economy continue with businesses either closed or operating at much reduced levels? There are no clear answers to any of these questions. But there is one place and to one person we can look that never changes: Jesus Christ (Hebrews 13:8) and the Bible. Though circumstances, like the storm on the sea of Galilee, may rage around us we can peacefully sleep knowing Jesus is with us and has everything under control.
The year 2020 has certainly turned out very differently than expected and appears as if the unusual events will continue into next year. But it has also had some great blessings: being able to get out of the rat race, spending more time with immediate family, finding new ways through technology to meet with fellow believers, more time (hopefully) for personal devotional time, more time to get caught up on overdue projects around the house/property, more time to evaluate what is really important.
I hope that as people have had to make significant changes to their schedules over the last month they are taking stock of lessons to be learned during this time. Lessons that I think were learned during the Great Depression but forgotten in the years of prosperity since then. Lessons about stewardship (saving for a rainy day; don't carry debt); being a good neighbor; keeping a strong, true faith; depending on God, not the government; living simply; and growing your own food. I'm sure there are other lessons but these readily come to mind for me.
When we read the pages of prophecy, especially Matthew 24, it is obvious we have entered into a new phase of the end-times. The signs of the times have seemed to ratchet up a few notches with a rapidity that is almost breathtaking. As the Apostle Paul says it is time we awaken, the night is far spent and the day of reckoning is at hand. Like the sleeping virgins (Matthew 25:1-5) we have been slumbering far too long. It is time to awake, trim our lamps, and take hold of the opportunities before us. Read and study the Bible as we never have before and tell people the true message of the Bible: God loves you, he only wants to save not destroy.
We need to awake. This world has changed permanently and will continue to change with more laws and fewer freedoms. We can pretend things will return to "normal" but we need to realistic. God's spirit is being removed from this world. Without His restraint the ungodly and their influence on humanity will only grow worse. But by knowing Jesus and the Bible; we can be prepared, be at peace, and be preserved when the end comes.
If you feel like to you need to study more about end-time events and Bible prophecy please visit the following websites (note: you'll have to copy and paste the web links into the address bar):
www.kingdomsintime.com or
www.amazingfacts.org/about-us/our-other-websites#
Awake, be ready, time is shorter than we realize.