Just before Christmas I had a distant relative pass away from natural causes. She was in her nineties and had lived a long Christian life. My family went to pay our respects during visitation and saw many family members that we had not seen in quite some time. My parents were in attendance and agreed to watch our three children in the back of the funeral home while my wife and I went up front to comfort family and friends. My parents briefly explained to our children that their great, great, great Aunt had gone on to be with Jesus. As Andrea and I started to make our way forward, our daughter Emma began to get frantic wanting to go with us. This was unlike her, and I questioned why the sudden outrage. She anxiously told me that she wanted to go up front to see Jesus too. I soon realized that she had misunderstood my parents and thought that we were going up front to see Jesus.
This episode made me wonder if Jesus had been standing up front, how many people would have been frantic, like Emma, just to catch a glimpse of Him? I also wondered how many people, many claiming to be Christians, would have found their way to the back of the funeral in shame of their lives of complacency. It also made me question myself; what would I have done?
I also thought back 2000 years ago, when Jesus first came to dwell among us, the people who accepted Him, and those who turned Him away. Most of the “religious” people of that time missed their Messiah. It was the common and unlearned that accepted Jesus as the King of kings. As this blog focuses mostly on end time prophecies I want us all to keep in mind that it was the Bible scholars of that time that missed all of the signs that clearly pointed to Jesus’ first coming. It was the fishermen, tax collectors, and common people that did not have preconceived ideas and were willing to ignore the religious hype of that time that realized that Jesus had came as “God among us”.
One of my favorite statements that I have mentioned before is that “Most Bible scholars do not let the Bible get in the way of their theories”. This is very sad, but I believe many times is very true. The one thing that I want us to remember as we study God’s Word deeper is the fact that we could be wrong. We need to be careful not to simply follow our church or denomination over God’s Word. I believe that every denomination brings something different to the Christian table that everyone can learn from, but no one denomination has everything absolutely right.
Are you desperately seeking Christ as my daughter did during this recent funeral? Have you found your relationship with Christ stale and complacent? Do you have a knowledge of who Christ is, but do not have a relationship with Him? James 2:19 tells us that “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder”. Just because you have knowledge of Christ does not mean that you will make it to heaven. 2011 is the best time ever to make Christ the center of your life. It is the year that we can get down off of the throne of our life and let Christ take his place on our throne. Please in this upcoming year do not get lost in the religion of Christianity, but rather focus on the relationship of Christianity. Remember it was the “religious” that missed Christ the first time, and it will probably be the same at His second coming. Let us not forget that Christ gave us a Simple Truth about the End Times to know about His second coming. God Bless and Happy New Year.
