by Tad Lindley
While discussing favorite seasons, one said, “Winter, because snow is easier to deal with.” Another said, “That’s because you’re young, when you’re older, you’ll see it differently.” I said, “My favorite season is whichever one it happens to be at the moment.” Minus of course that time when ice is forming in the fall and it is unsafe to travel.
Never saw it coming
My problem with the seasons, is that they always change eventually, and even though I know it is inevitable, I always seem to be caught off guard. When the fish come in the summer, there will be a net that I had 11 months to hang and suddenly it becomes an emergency, because I never got around to it. Even now, as I see the signs of winter fast approaching, I can about guarantee you that when the first snow fall has come, there will be something that I forgot to put away in the yard that ends up hiding from me all winter. Even though all the signs are there, whether it is a boat frozen into the ice in the harbor in October, or an empty woodshed in September, or unhung nets in June, or a leaky boat in May, or a missed moose from a rifle that never got sighted in, some of us live our lives as if we never saw the season coming.
No man knows the day or the hour
No man knows the day or the hour that the first snowflake will fall, and no man knows the day or the hour when the ice will begin to shift in the springtime, although a lot of them place bets on it. But as sure as the sun rises and the tide comes in, the seasons change; it is inevitable. All of this could also be said about the coming again of the Lord, in fact is has been said, by the very Lord himself.
The end times
In Matthew 24 Jesus teaches the disciples about the end times when the Antichrist would arise and when he would soon after return and gather the saved together from all four directions. Concerning the timing of these events Jesus said, “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.” (Matthew 24:36 NLT) He let the disciples know that there would be many people completely caught off guard by the coming of the Lord. He said it would be like the days of Noah when only 8 people were watching and ready (Matthew 24:37-39). This is where he speaks words that should chill us to the bone: Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken [to be with the Lord] the other left. (Matthew 24:40)
We can’t know the exact day, but we can know the season
Jesus said, Now learn a parable of the fig tree. When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh… Then Jesus shifts topic from fig trees to the end time and continues…so likewise, ye, when ye shall see all these things (referring to the signs of the end times in Matthew 24:4-31) know that it is near even at the doors. (Matthew 24:33) It is not God’s desire, that anybody should be caught off guard (II Peter 3:9) at his coming, but he prophesied that many would be.
Like a thief in the night
If you knew a thief was coming to rob your house at night, you would certainly have all of your firearms laid out, with clips loaded and ready, and when he began to try to slip the lock you would be ready to take him. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. (Matthew 24:42-44 ESV)
But we shouldn’t be taken by surprise
For you yourselves know perfectly well that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night…but ye brethren are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief. (I Thessalonians 5:2,4) No, if we are watching the spiritual seasons, and have been born again, then we need to be vigilant about being ready for his return. From the White House to the bath house to the dope house, sin has been endorsed and encouraged in unprecedented measure these last few years. Students of Daniel and Revelation understand that the season is fast upon us, and that now more than ever, we need to be ready, otherwise we will be lost.
Are you ready for the season?
As time as we know it draws to a close, are you ready? Have you prayed and fasted and cast sin out of your life? Have you been born of water and of the spirit (John 3:5)? Have you repented of your sin and been baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sin (Acts 2:38)? Have you received the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:39)? If Jesus were to come tonight, would you be ready?
Reverend Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, Alaska.
