Are you ready?
By Chris Rathbone
Mitchell County
By the time most of you read the articles for this month, the signs of spring will most likely be showing up all around us. There have been quite a few conversations already going on about folk looking forward to warmer weather, longer days, and of course garden season! While I’m more of a cool weather person myself, the change of seasons from winter to spring is a welcome sight when the colors of spring begin to show up. We will all be reminded that God has kept His promise that “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” Genesis 8:22 Listening to some at the church one would think this winter has lasted for 6 months and we’ve really only had 1 good snow! Did I mention my love for snow also?
Spring always brings a sense of renewal and new life. After months of bare trees and plants, the leaves begin to show up, flowers begin to bloom, and the grass turns to a vibrant green. These are all signs of the coming season. Spring rains come at just the right time to give nature a boost ( It’s almost as if God made it that way! Funny how that works!). Folks with farms and gardens will be busy preparing the ground for the new growing season. I purchased some fertilizer and lime from Griffith’s and Son store in Tipton Hill just this week. According to them, the fertilizer has been a hot seller lately as people are looking ahead. There’s an excitement in the air, so to speak, about this new time and the hope it brings for the days ahead. Days of increased warmth, outdoor activities, and doing the work a lot of folks enjoy.
This time of year there is always a great sense of anticipation. The renewed sense of better days ahead. We will be leaving behind those days of dreary weather, cold wind, and blowing snow. We are looking for warmth and sunshine. Our hearts are longing, hoping, and anticipating days that will be brighter. What seemed like long winter days will be in the past behind us and we will be enjoying and basking in the warmth and hope of spring, of light, of life renewed! The colder the winter, the sweeter the spring!
We as believers in Jesus and His word can look around this world and see how dark things are getting. The events that the Bible tells us will happen in the last days are happening all around us. There is a blatant push towards world government, world currency, and economics. We hear cries for unity among nations that will lead to peace. We hear cries for unity among world religions, for tolerance, and for compromise, that will lead to a utopia where every belief, religion, and philosophy is on equal ground and acceptance. There are increased calls for Biblical beliefs to be removed from the public and governmental policies. Christianity is under increased hatred and persecution. In our nation specifically, leaders seem to be determined to remove Christianity and promote freedom of other faiths. We can believe but it has to be following what is accepted in the secular realm, no descent, no disagreement, no standing on Biblical truth or authority. You’ll be labeled a religious bigot, judgmental, far-right extremist, even racist or intolerant if you adhere to Biblical teachings. And it really doesn’t matter if people try to adhere to what is being taught in this secular realm. Next week the standard will be changed and the same accusations will be shouted from the rooftops towards those who don’t conform. To focus on this old world and its systems would lead one to lose hope for the future. It’s like having to endure a never-ending, dark, cold, spiritual winter!
What we see happening now in the world around us is pointing and leading to a better and brighter future. Adrian Rogers said, “It’s getting dark, but for the believer, it’s getting gloriously dark!” These are birth pains getting the church ready for delivery. The wars, rumors of wars Jesus taught about, the great falling away Paul taught about, the love of many growing cold, the hatred the unbelieving world has for Christ and His church and Israel is all around us. These things may trouble us in the flesh, but should excite us in the Spirit! The more we see these things come to pass, the closer we are to the coming of Christ! He is coming just as He said. God will deliver His church, this world will be judged along with the wicked and the wicked systems and religions of this world. God will fulfill His promises and His word.
Are you ready for the return of Christ? Have you been born again by repenting of sin and placing your faith in Jesus to save you and give you the free gift of eternal life? Have your sins been forgiven and washed away by the blood of Jesus? If you have answered no to these questions, I implore you to come to Jesus! He gave His life on the cross, shed His blood, suffered the wrath of God so you wouldn’t have to! In Him and Him alone is eternal life and salvation! No one else did for mankind what Jesus has done. Give your life to Jesus, trust Him as your Savior, and be born again.
Like a long, dark, cold winter, this world is coming to an end and the spring of eternal life is near. Are you ready? If not, there’s no time to waste! Now is the accepted time, today is the day of salvation! Jesus is coming, just as He said!
In Christ,
Preacher Chris
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Preacher Chris Rathbone serves as Pastor at Mine Creek Baptist Church.
You can read more Good Christian News from Pastor Chris HERE.
You can connect with Preacher Chris on Facebook HERE.
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