My Last Day On Earth

It’s really nothing new.  It’s something that’s been around for centuries.  In fact, since the days Christ lived, it’s been a part of human speculation. 

Men have written about it with complete assurance that they’d finally unlocked its mystery.  Since the dawning of the New Covenant, there have been proof positive signs it was on its way.

And so it goes that divining the truth about the end times has been a favorite Christian sport from the very start.  Today there are countless folks who have tallied the signs and they see it all written out in blood.  Just as their counterparts did the exact same thing hundreds of years prior.  Then, they all seem amazed that Christ was right when He said that no one would be able to predict His return.  Oh sure, there will be signs…  but there have always been happenings that corresponded with man’s evolving interpretation of Revelations.  Why, some churches even require that you believe that the end times will fall just as they prescribe their unfolding. 

Although I’ve taken a cynical tone to end times fascination, I can assure you that I take the Word of God quite seriously on these matters.  I don’t prescribe to the rapture theory mostly because it is no more Biblical than purgatory or Mary’s divinity.  I do however, fully except that we are all living in the end times.

How do I know this?  I’ve discovered something I wish to share with you now…  something that will defy controversy while still making the hairs on the back of your neck stand straight.  Are you ready?  I’ve noticed…  prepare yourself…  that life is a fatal condition.  We have all been put here in fragile containers that simply don’t last.  Every last one of us are in the end times.  For some it’s just a matter of minutes, hours or days.  For others, it’s a bit farther down the road.  But mark my word – each one of us have an appointment with the grave.

Why, today might just be my last day on Earth – who knows?

Never fear…  for I also have the solution.  Live urgently.  That’s right.  Live urgently.  We must all live with an end times attitude by never taking a day for granted.  Christ-followers must be prepared by living each day urgently so that there can be no missteps or no regrets.  Christ may indeed come back tomorrow.  Or maybe in 1,000 years.  But this I can say for certain – you and I, my friends, are in our final days.  70 years really isn’t that many to live once you’ve arrived there.  I’ve found that my forty plus years have gone by quicker than I’d thought they would.  50 doesn’t look nearly as old as it used to. 

I suspect that we need to be a bit more impatient with ourselves so that we can move towards being the spiritually formed beings that Christ can truly use here today.  Among all people walking in the shadow of their last days.  If you think life is great – just wait for the sequel! 

Oh, and if I’ve offended any who truly loved the Left Behind series or who follow the teachings of end-time prophets, I humbly apologize.  But may I suggest that as long as we follow after Christ with the profound urgency such walk deserves, then we will have found the most excellent way to touch the lives of others in their last days.  Life is too urgent to sluff off.