BYM ONLINE DESK Blessing English Emagazine December 2019 | Page 7

www.bymonline.org | December 2019
undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” Suffering
makes us vulnerable. It confuses our faith and fills our
hearts with doubts. Pain is a reality. But don't get
hoodwinked by the devil in your weakness. Though we
lament like Job, we can hang on to our faith like him. Bad
times make our spine strong. Sometimes the greatest
things in the world are born out of suffering and beautiful
things arise from struggles.
Jesus' bold and straight forward teachings ruffled
many feathers. “The Pharisees and the teachers of the law
were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they
watched Him closely to see if He would heal on the
Sabbath” (Lk 6:7; 14:1; 20:20). As much as we are alert,
our enemies are also alert. That's why Jesus said, “Beware
of men” (Mt 10:17). Paul also so warns us: “Alexander
the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord
will repay him for what he has done. You too should be on
your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our
message” (2 Tim 4:14,15).
More and more opposers are rising against the
message of the cross. Should we then shut our mouths and
fold our hands? Never! We must go ahead with our
message but be watchful. Jesus has promised to stand by
us till the end of the age. So we must go on proclaiming
till the end of the age.
5.Alert for the Second Coming
“Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know
when the time will come” (Mk 13:33). How alert we are if
we are told in the TV that robbers are around our town!
How much more should we be if Jesus has said He would
come like a thief, suddenly. “Therefore keep watch
because you do not know when the owner of the house
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will come back whether in the evening, or at midnight, or
when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If He comes
suddenly, do not let Him find you sleeping. What I say to
you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!'” (vv 35-37).
Speaking about His Second Coming Jesus said,
“Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come
in my name, claiming, I am the Messiah, and will deceive
many” (Mt 24:4). We are very close to these days. It will
come like the deluge on Noah's generation and the raining
of fire and sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah. There will be
no time to get ready. “Until” the flood came, they knew
nothing (Mat 24:39). They knew after the floods came,
but then it was too late. Let us not be like the sons-in-law
of Lot, thinking it all a big joke, taking matters lightly.
The bad news is, time flies. The good news is, you are the
pilot.
“Therefore keep watch…if the owner of the house
had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he
would have kept watch…so also you must be ready”(vv
42-44). Do we need more sirens? “Who then is the
faithful and wise servant?... It will be good for that
servant whose master finds him doing so when He
returns” (vv 45,46). Let us be faithfully doing our work
till the sky bursts forth in clouds of glory with our King
coming. “So be on your guard; I have told you everything
ahead of time” (Mk 13:23). He has blown the whistle. Do
we have an excuse to give if we are unprepared?
“Therefore let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch
and be sober” (I Thess 5:6). Let us not be like the foolish
virgins who woke up right on time but had no time to get
ready. Jesus gives us the final warning in the Book of
Revelations: “Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one
who stays awake and remains clothed so as not to go
naked and be shamefully exposed” (Rev 16:15). Stay