Current Events...

I am officially resigning as a 'Current Events' junkie. I must get about 50 e-mails a week from this person or that who are determined that, "based on their thorough investigations", the 'Mark of the Beast' has been manifested, or that another "obvious" sign of the Second Coming is evident. (The evidence is never the same- everyone comes from a different angle- it gets very confusing!) These people are all worked up & bless their hearts, they get so excited- I know they have struggles in life just like I do and they want Jesus to come. I want Him to come too- with all my heart- I'm ready to go home!!!! However, I find current events to be somewhat a distraction from what really matters. Instead of reading the news, read the Bible. Find within it's pages God's AMAZING love & salvation! After Jesus ascended to Heaven, the disciples stood there staring at the sky, waiting for Him to return and the angels said, (I'm para-phrasing) "Hey guys, why are you wasting precious time standing there staring into an empty sky? This same Jesus who has gone up to Heaven will come back again. In the meantime, you've been given a commission to share the Gospel & spread the Kingdom, now get busy and tell the world- then He will return!" I keep an ear open to the signs of Jesus coming, but I want my eyes to be firmly fixed on the cross. I want to be busy studying Christ and loving people, not doing time on the Pope-watch. No one knows the hour of His coming so why do we repeatedly make predictions? A watched pot never boils... perhaps we should not be sky-watchers, but care-givers?!
I've heard all my life that Jesus is coming soon. I still believe He is, sad thing I was unable to be carefree as a child because of those who delighted in current events, interpreting "signs", and discussing the horrors of the Time of Trouble. My resignation from this mentality does not indicate that I am "asleep" by any means. When Jesus comes, I will be ready! I am ready this very moment because my sins are covered in His blood and I have received His robe of righteousness. So while others are scrambling around trying to fix this & that about themselves and trying to whip others into shape, I'm resting in Christ my righteousness. He will come when the time is right- His time-table, not ours...