I guess that it must be connected to my advancing years but the year 2023 has flown in very quickly. It does not seem a year since I was writing my last blog for the year 2022 [Dayshare entitled , 'Time to reflect.' 31/12/2022]. It does not seem so long since I retired from Cunninghame House in Irvine - but its 13 years ago.
When as a child I laughed and wept, Time CREPT;
When as a youth I waxed more bold, Time STROLLED.
When I became a full-grown man, Time RAN.
When older still I daily grew, Time FLEW.
Soon I shall find, in passing on, Time GONE.
[This poem is inscribed on a clock-case in Chester Cathedral in England. It is attributed to Henry Twells].
The apostle James puts it like this:
You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes. You ought to say instead, “If the Lord is willing, then we will live and do this or that.” [James 4:14-15 NET]
I have no idea how much longer I will be spared to live on this earth. As far as I know my health is ok but when my father turned 70, he always said he was on borrowed time. My studies in Revelation have made me more certain that we are in the last days. I believe that it is misguided to speculate about the timing of Jesus' second coming but we are advised to be vigilant and ready for His coming at any time. Jesus uses the metaphor of the burglar, the thief in the night, to describe his coming. It will be unexpected and will take the world by surprise. So, Jesus may come again in the year 2024. He may come before the New Year. This is good news for those of us who have chosen Him as Saviour and Lord. We are united with Him at His coming.
Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. [1 Thessalonians 4:17 ESV]
By way of contrast, the next chapter of this same letter, from Paul the apostle, speaks of the Day of the Lord. He says that this will be an event which will take people totally by surprise. They will be congratulating themselves on their peace and security and be oblivious to the danger they are facing. Here is how graphically Paul describes this event for those who are unbelievers:
" …then sudden destruction will come upon them as labour pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape." [1 Thessalonians 5: 3 ESV]
I am currently planning my series of Dayshare blogs for 2024 and I plan, God Willing to look more at what me might describe as apocalyptic events in some future blogs. The big word for this is eschatological. It relates to the end times.
The New Year is traditionally a time for reflection. As I reflect on the end of 2023 and the prospect of 2024 which is opening out before us, I am reflecting with gratitude that I can rely on the Word of God. God's enemy, the devil, has done everything to undermine God's word as revealed in the Bible but it has stood the test of time. On Sunday 10th December, I was preaching at Dawson Community Church on 'Mary as a Witness.' I emphasised the fact that Luke who was a doctor was called on to write about the virgin birth. He used eyewitnesses and painfully researched his subject matter. He presented Mary as one of his key witnesses. Of course, she was speaking from personal experience. She was able to convey the impact of her encounter with the angel. When the angel told Mary she was going to give birth to the Messiah, she wanted to know more about this and how could this happen since she is a virgin. Mary emphasises the impossibility of this naturally speaking. However, the angel replies that there will be divine intervention - the Holy Spirit would overshadow her and would bring about the conception of a baby in her womb without the need for a man to be involved. The angel points out that 'nothing is impossible with God' and it is recorded that Mary believed the word of the angel. Here is Mary's reply:
So Mary said, "Yes, I am a servant of the Lord; (by which she meant that she was completely submissive to God's will in her life) let this happen to me according to your word."
Mary was not relying on her emotions or her intellect. She was putting her faith in the Word of God spoken to her via an angel.
As this year draws to a close, this is how I am facing an uncertain future. I am not relying on my feelings - which are, to say the least, changeable. I am relying on the unchanging, indestructible Word of God. That is what Dayshare is about - it is basing our values and beliefs entirely on the Word of God revealed in the Bible. We are looking to the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth in the year ahead.
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