The Summer is Ended (Now What?)

Today is the 23 of September, 2006. This day is notable in three ways. One: it's the first day of autumn and Jeremiah 8:20 reads "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." This verse describes the age that we live in; the end is here and it seems as though nobody cares; not even most christians. Two: Ramadan begins at sundown and each year the pundits speculate on what kind of trouble will be stirred up by Islamic extremists. If you've been watching lately, the US-Pakistani "alliance" is strained, President Musharref has established a "treaty" with the province of Waziristan, (I guess that makes it an independant country) Hezbollah is now refusing to lay down their arms despite the UN resolution (what a surprise) and the fiasco in Iraq continues to enlarge itself as precious souls are perishing daily. Three: This is by far the most significant aspect of this first day of autumn. "We are one day closer to the last day." The man of sin is one step closer to stepping onto the world stage and instituting his designs. Peace and safety is one day closer to being non-existant, and truly THE END OF ALL THINGS IS AT HAND! What the exact timing is nobody knows; we can only go on the word of God and as you watch things coming to fruition, you know that scripture is coming to pass as indeed it must. Thus far the bible has a 100% accuracy rating. That's a good thing because it also means that the scriptures concerning the return of Jesus are also 100% accurate and the biblical glimpses of the world to come are accurate as well. Our blessed hope really is a "blessed hope" and not just a contrived idea of some guys out in the desert too long. Our God is real and if you're born again, his Spirit abides in you. Wherever you go, he's with you. If they throw you into a tiny room with dead rats (as the Romanian police did to Dimitri Duduman) he's right there with you. If all of your earthly trappings go the way that all things of this world go, he'll always be a very present help. Jesus is truly the Friend who sticketh closer than a brother and his peace cannot be shaken by the things of this life. So as we go from here on, we ought to be ever so sober minded and keep the joy of the Lord in our heart. We ought also to have sincere compassion on those around us who have never given their hearts to Jesus and aren't ready for the times ahead. (as we all were in times past) To "be strong and do exploits" as the book of Daniel tells about. It's a very familiar verse, but II Timothy 2:4 reads "No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." All of us have a certain level of entanglements and we really need to work on shedding them. Each year as summer ends, I find myself reflecting on what has come to pass and what's on the horizon. I remember last year thinking to myself "I'll be surprised if we reach the end of October without any cataclysmic happenings." Well, last year saw things remain intact, but we also know that the word of God will be fulfilled. Look at the RFID technology, the ever expanding surveillence network designed to find...I mean...protect us, the distress of nations, and rapid climate change. (This past summer a lane opened up in the arctic ice shelf in which a ship could sail from Norways Spitsbergen Island to the north pole according to photos taken by the European Space Agency) If you put it all together, you know that the end of all things is at hand. Jesus is coming. Of all the political bantering, all of the posturing by the nations of this world, all of the vast array of frivilous things that people occupy their time with; the only thing that matters is "JESUS IS RETURNING!" If you know him, LOOK UP! The days to come are going to be trying beyond what you can even begin to fathom, but he's coming at the appointed time and every eye shall behold him. "And when you see these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." (Luke 21:27)