While in college, we spent endless hours debating various prophetic schemes trying to figure out from Scripture the right one. Was it amillennial or one of the pre-millennial views: pre-tribulational, mid-tribulational or post-tribulational? It may be none of the above. Many books have been written predicting the time of Christ’s return and all are wrong. A popular view was Christ’s return within one generation (40 years) of the birth of Israel in 1948. Christ did not come back in 1988. God wants us to prepare, not predict His return.
God rewards those with attitudes of alertness, attentiveness, perseverance and consistency because they prepare themselves for Christ’s Second Coming (Matt. 24:45-51).
Unless we are filled with the Holy Spirit, our actions won’t accomplish anything. Prepare yourselves spiritually since no one can transfer their relationship with God to others (Matt. 25:1-13). Not only does one need a proper attitude and spiritual grounding, each person requires proper actions to prepare for Christ’s Second Coming.
Fully invest your time, talents and treasure in God’s Kingdom, especially with the poor (Matt. 25:14-27). Show compassion to the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the unclothed, the sick and the prisoner as if you were ministering to Christ since each one is His brother (Matt. 25:35-36, 40, 45-46).
Scripture has frequent exhortations to care for the poor (Prov. 21:13; 22:9,22-23). Isaiah was upset with peoples’ worship because they weren’t giving priority to seeking justice, encouraging the oppressed, defending the cause of the fatherless and pleading the case of the widow (Is. 1:11-17).
If our devotional exercises, prayer, Bible study, fellowship and evangelism become ends in themselves without serving others, what is the consequence? Read what Isaiah has to say in Is. 58:3,6-7.
How will you prepare yourself spiritually in your relationship with God?
What talents, skills and resources will you invest in God’s Kingdom?
To what sphere of service will you devote your time, talents and treasure?
Is there an existing agency doing the work you are interested in? Do you have friends within your church, workplace or neighborhood with similar passions who could help you collaborate with existing community services to meet a need in your community?
