2010 Advent Devotional
St. Stephen United Methodist Church
Wednesday, December 1
Matthew 24:36-44
36 "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
 
42 "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
If I had a dime for every theory that comes up predicting the end of times I would be ... well you all know how that goes.

I remember all too well the hysteria surrounding Y2K - that's the "year 2000" for those of you who missed it. Seems many were certain that was to be the end of the world as we knew it. The world's economies would crash because of a simple computer glitch. It turned out to be a big nothing that cost millions of dollars.

Apparently the hot new theory is that 2012 will usher in the "new world" because the Mayans chose to end their calendar in that year. It seems everybody wants to be the Great Predictor. I will go out on a limb and say, wrong again.

I think I will put my eggs in the basket of verse 42, "... you do not know which day your Lord is coming." These are God's words not man's words and, of course, Father knows best!

It makes much more sense to me to be prepared for "whenever" rather than try to pin down a date and wait to get ready at the last second. We only have one shot and I, for one, intend to be taken in God's time not mine.

My question for you is, will you be one who is taken or will you be one who is left?
Dean Freeman

If you wish to be taken off of the distribution list for the Advent devotions, please e-mail kellykeesling@ststephenumc.net.

(Note: If you unsubscribe below, you will be removed from all of our e-mail lists.)