Be Ready!

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” Matthew 24:36

 In this verse Jesus is telling us that no one but God the Father knows when Jesus is coming back. But we need to be ready, Amen? Highlight this verse because you’ll find books upon books in Christian bookstores where the first fifteen pages explain why this verse doesn’t mean what it says, and why Jesus didn’t mean “no one knows”. Authors go on to say, “Jesus meant, ‘not many know’, however I know the exact date Jesus is coming back because I’ve worked it out exactly mathematically.” Or these authors say, “I know the exact date Jesus is coming back because the date’s been revealed to me by some codes I’ve discovered in the Bible.”

In 1988, Edgar C. Whisenant wrote a book called 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be In 1988. He sold thousands of these books to gullible Christians. However, when the rapture didn’t happen in 1988, Whisenant wrote another book, What Went Wrong In 1988. He wrote the following, “My mistake was that my mathematical calculations were off by one year. The miscalculation was so simple, perhaps the reason I did not see my error was God’s will…” He blamed the calendar and God for his false predictions! If Whisenant really believed that the rapture was going to be in 1988, why didn’t he just run up his credit card to print lots of books and then just give away the books instead of selling them? If he was going to be raptured and not be here anyway, why would he need the money from the books? Why would he need cash in heaven?  I believe he sold the books because he knew he was going to be here on this planet after 1988 and he wanted the money.

Some of these guys have said (I kid you not), “I’ve found the secret in Scripture telling me when the Lord’s coming back. Let’s all go to Israel and sit on the Mount of Olives and wait for Jesus!” But they buy roundtrip airline tickets. What’s up with that?! If the Lord was really coming back on the date they had chosen, why didn’t they get one-way tickets?

Jesus said in Matthew 24:44, “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” If everyone’s looking for Jesus on a particular date, then you can be guaranteed that He won’t be coming on that date. We need to be ready for the Lord’s return at any instant! If you knew the exact date that Jesus was coming back—and He is coming back!—should that fact alone change your life and the way you are now living? It shouldn’t because we should already be walking closely with the Lord anyway, whether we’ve got a date or not. Our relationship with God should be first and foremost every moment of everyday. Be Ready!