Why Not Just Run Away From It All
Almost everywhere I go nowadays, I hear people say, "I wish I could just run away from it all." Then after a sad pause, they add, "But I don't know where to run. I have no place to go. And I guess I'm too chicken."
Almost everywhere I go nowadays, I hear people say, "I wish I could just run away from it all." Then after a sad pause, they add, "But I don't know where to run. I have no place to go. And I guess I'm too chicken."
On the night before his crucifixion, at the Last Supper, Jesus told his disciples, “Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me” (John 14:19). What an interesting statement for Jesus to make, knowing the disciples wouldn’t grasp it. One of them asked, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” (14:22).
In the Old Testament, Habakkuk gives us an amazing prophecy about the end times. This praying prophet’s name means “embraced by God.” Scripture indicates Habakkuk was a man who wrestled with the Lord faithfully in prayer. And his prophecy came during a time of gross immorality.
Isaiah warns that in the last days, God will turn the world upside down.
When I was a teenager, I spent my summers helping out on a ranch in east Texas. The ranch manager, Jimmie, was a big, strapping guy who had limited eyesight but knew how to do all kinds of things. Jimmie taught me how to mow and haul hay, for instance, and how to insert pills in cows’ parts. (Yes, Jimmie knew a lot about a lot of things.)
Every year during the busy holidays, Christians remind themselves of the real significance of Christmas: the coming of Jesus. Our hearts are filled with gratitude that God the Father sent a Savior to redeem us. And celebrating Christ's birth is a sweet and pleasant time, filled with blessings of all kinds. We love seeing colorful presents around the tree in our living room. We enjoy singing carols and hymns, thanking God for his many blessings. Some of us even enjoy "A Charlie Brown Christmas," with Linus quoting from Luke 2 at the end.
For the Lord loves justice, and does not forsake his godly ones; they are preserved forever; but the descendants of the wicked will be cut off” (Psalm 37:28).
In Luke 22, Jesus delivered a serious warning to perhaps his most devoted follower. Christ called the apostle Peter aside and told him the following in no uncertain terms: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail” (Luke 22:31–32).
“[Jesus] said Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
“And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death. And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me” (Luke 22:31–34).
Luke 19 gives us a powerful picture of Jesus making his final entry into Jerusalem. The image is of Christ approaching the city on a donkey to shouts of praise from great throngs. He started at the Mount of Olives, and the closer he got to the city gate the larger the crowds grew. Soon the people were casting down their garments before him, waving palm branches and crying, “He’s here! The hour has come for the king of Israel to arrive. Peace has come to Jerusalem. Finally, the kingdom is here!”
When I was a boy, the cry of the church was, “Jesus is coming! Like a thief in the night, he will return when you least expect him. He’ll come in the twinkling of an eye, with the sound of the trumpet. Be ready at all times.”
Throughout my teenage years, this cry was heard at every Sunday meeting. Every evangelist who came to preach in my father’s church had a stirring message about the soon return of Christ. Their cries are burned into my memory. And the message formed in me a godly fear and expectancy. I learned to live expecting the Lord to return at any moment.