Humanity is always preoccupied with predicting outcomes:

• Is it going to rain/snow tomorrow?
• How many hurricanes would occur in the next hurricane season?
• By how much will stock rise or fall tomorrow?
• Will I be the next lottery winner?
• When do the last days actually begin?

As was teased in a former devotion, as it pertains to the beginning of the last days, it may seem overly simplistic but the bible proves that the last days began the moment you were born.

The reality is that due to sin, the minute any human being is born into this world, they already start dying. The question that no one can predict from birth is, “when will I die“. Unfortunately, due to sin, the minute that life begins in the womb, death occurs at varied times:

• babies die:
  • some babies are aborted
  • some are still born
  • some die a few weeks after birth
• toddlers die
• children die
• teenagers die
• young adults die
• mature adults die (before retirement)

Sadly, many people die before making it to the biblical average of seventy-years, and even then, you eventually die and the causes of these deaths are too innumerable to list.

Nonetheless, the one thing we can predict about the occurrence of death, is that though unpredictable in terms of when it happens, there is a 100% certainty that it will occur. As such, each human being faces two possible outcomes as it pertains to “last days”:

1. Their last days on the earth i.e. when they die
2. The last days of the earth i.e. when Jesus returns to earth.

The truth is, no one knows the age they will live to, therefore no one knows when “their” last days on earth will be. As such, we should not be overly focused on the future and the last-days of the earth, but we should be focused on the present and on “to-day“, i.e. this current day that the Lord is permitting you to enjoy. Yet, what is the reason for the preoccupation with when the “last days” are?

But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into

Matthew 24:43

Jesus has likened His return to being like a thief in the night. Using that analogy He goes further and states in Matthew 24:43, that if a person knew when He was returning, at the appointed hour they would prepare themselves to receive Him.

Now you might be saying, “what’s wrong with that?” “Isn’t the point to get ready when Jesus comes?” Well, let’s examine this point by point:

• Firstly, if people were aware of the exact date and time of Jesus’ return they would be lulled into a false sense of security. Some would strive to live the life that they want first, and then before Jesus puts in His appearance, they may seek to change the life to that which they believe God wants of them. However, the big assumption is that people believe they have control over their lives, and that they will have time to change before it’s too late. However, remember what we ascertained earlier, apart from not knowing when Christ returns (the last days of the earth) no one knows when they would actually die (their last days on the earth).
  
• Secondly, for those who may say ” Isn’t the point to get ready when Jesus comes?” The answer to that question is no. The point is to be ready when Jesus comes. Readiness can be both a process and a state. Getting ready, is the process whereas being ready is the state. To be ready one must have taken the time to get ready. That process is about transformation (And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. – Rom 12:2) .
  
  Transformation takes both time and effort and a dependency upon God. It’s not a switch that can be flipped. Therefore, the more you delay your process of getting ready, the more you jeopardize your ability to be ready when Jesus comes. Don’t be fooled, repenting and accepting Jesus Christ into your life is immediate. However, giving Him room to transform your life (stopping: gambling, pornography, physical abuse, stealing, gossiping, etc) is a work of a lifetime. God saves us from our sin, not in our sin.

Consequently, as a result of the unpredictability of not only Jesus’ return, but our own death, Jesus is encouraging us to focus on today and submit to Him today:

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Matthew 6:34 NKJV

What are you doing with this day that God has blessed unto you? Have you committed yourself to God? Have you chosen to separate yourself from the vices and the vain allurements of the world and connect to the meaningful things of life? Or, are you waiting till you are older, after you have enjoyed your youth or your prime adulthood, enjoyed your vices, enjoyed “life”, and then turn your life to God.

For those who choose the latter, just remember you are living on borrowed time. No one can “draw down” on tomorrow. You can only invest into it. Put another way,we cannot draw down on our health and strength today, work tirelessly and then state that tomorrow we will eat better or rest better. Why? Simply because tomorrow may never come for any of us. Each day, as Matthew 6:34 implies, is meant for us to give our best. We are cautioned against trying to push our responsibilities of today unto tomorrow. Each day, for those that know God, is meant for us to reconnect and resubmit to the Most High:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living [daily] sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship

Romans 12:1 (NIV) | [] inserted by author

The last days (as described by the bible) is only relevant to the people who will actually live to see it. Yet, the bible tells us that no man knows the hour and while we have signs and signals, and we see the unraveling occur, we don’t know if we shall live till the “thread comes off the spool”. Hence, each person should treat each day they are given as their last, while simultaneously preparing for tomorrow if God should grant them life yet another day.

36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son,[a] but the Father only. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Matthew 24:36 & 44

Blessings!!

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