There was a time in my youth that most of what was heard on Sundays and even Wednesday nights, was this need to be prepared, that the end was always near. Today we call this “end times” preachers.
We’ve gotten very far from that, very far. When one looks at Scripture and really lets it sink in, Christ and all the Apostles were all about “the end is coming” preaching and the need to repent. Nobody wants to really hear that stuff today, we want the easy to digest stuff, nothing too religious but rather more of feeling good about ourselves.
Several times Christ speaks of the end in parables, the thief in the night, etc etc, and His first word “Repent”. The Apostles themselves wrote of the need to repent and the end of time.
Then it becomes a little more clear. James essentially tells us that we are here and gone very quickly, our end. While we will never know the day the Christ is coming back, He tells to be prepared as if it’s going to happen now, today, tomorrow.
Speaking of our end, that’s likely to come before we see Christ on the horizon. So our need to repent, to admit our faults is a constant event, because we never know when our time here is up. Which goes back to “end times” preaching. As much as it centers on the end of days, it also centers on our personal end of days.
Nothing is more important in this world than our individual need to realize that one day we’re going to run out of time, personal time, not the end but our end. It is paramount to be prepared not financially but spiritually, are you truly ready if it comes very soon. It’s not a game of chance, not a roll of the dice to take lightly.
One thing is beyond our comprehension, eternity. It’s not a week, not a month, not years upon years, it is forever.