Is Judgement Day near?

Perhaps you have heard the recent news that the end times are upon us? Harold Camping, founder of Family Radio, has been instrumental in proclaiming the end date (or Judgement Day) as May 21st, 2011. His date selection is based on the analysis of hundreds of biblical verses. Many have taken this as an opportunity to plan nothing beyond that date. I've read reports of some people leaving their jobs, living on their savings accounts, with nothing planned beyond the 21st.

The advent of large, natural disasters such as the Tsunami hitting Japan, earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding, tornadoes... have lent impetus to the end time idea. Some, I believe, see this as an escape from the travails and trials of our world. While others see no creedance in the date of May 21st as "the day". Many do believe that Jesus will come back, but aren't sure of when.

Biblically, we understand Jesus tells us, "But nobody knows when the day or hour will come, not the heavenly angels and not the Son. Only the Father knows." (Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32)

While I have had very few people ask me about the end times, is it the 21st, is it soon ... ? The thought I would impart is to not ask 'when is Jesus coming?' but instead are you living your life as if Jesus were coming tomorrow? Have you trusted Jesus? Have you taken Jesus as your savior and are you living the life Jesus calls you to?

The life Jesus calls us to is found in many parts of our scripture and is lived out in many ways, however I summarize this 'life style' in three distinct yet intertwined ways:

1) Do you have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ? Do you pray? Do you learn more about Him through the Scripture? Do you seek God's help in your daily decisions? Do you invite the Holy Spirit to be active in your life as you reflect your relationship with God outwardly?

2) Do you have a good relationship with the people around you in a way that reflects Christ in your life? In otherwords, are you filled with grace, forgiveness, love, understanding... to others? Do you seek to help others in their time of need? Lift others up in prayer? Are you sharing your Christian faith with others through words and (more importantly) your actions?

3) Do you go into the world and live your life missionally to help others come to know Christ?

I think knowing that Christ is coming again is important for and to everyone. We believe that Christ is risen and that Christ will come again. In the time that we have, here on this earth, we are called to be faithful to God's word and build communities of hope and healing. Let's not be worried about the when, but rather how we are being faithful to God.