Recently I found something interesting from Joel chapter 3. After God talks about how He is going to judge the nations in the last days, He starts to list some of the things He has against the nations during those days.
“I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; they have also divided up My land. They have cast lots for My people, have given a boy as payment for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.” (Joel 3:2-3)
That last sentence is what really stood out to me in this passage! So relevant today with all of the trafficking of children going on. Obviously, we can see by these verses that God does not take that lightly!! His judgment will come! And it seems with every passing day, that His judgment is getting closer and closer.
This world continues to grow darker each and every day, but this should come as no surprise to those who belong to the Lord. He warns us of these things all throughout the New Testament. But no matter how dark the world may become, as Christians, we have HOPE because we’ve been promised that our Savior will return to defeat sin, death, and darkness once and for all — and since we belong to Him, we get to be on the winning side of that battle!!
So what are we, as Christians, supposed to be doing while we wait for Christ’s return? Peter reminds us in 2 Peter 3:10-18 that we are called to conduct ourselves in a holy manner and pursue godliness as we wait for the Day of the Lord. We are called to “be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot, and blameless.” We are called to beware of twisted scripture and false teachings and instead, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (through His Word).
Is it disappointing to see all of the chaos and calamity going on in our country and in our world today? Of course. But should we, as Christians, allow these things to keep us from conducting ourselves in a Christlike manner and allow these things to keep us from growing, spiritually? Absolutely not!
Now is the time for Christians to be making sure our hearts are right with the Lord! Now is the time for Christians to be making sure we are at peace with everyone, regardless of what someone’s done to us! Jesus tells us that if we don’t forgive others, God won’t forgive us (Matthew 6:14-15). He also tells us that we should love our enemies and do good to them, not try to get even (Matthew 5:43-48).
It’s sobering to read what will occur before the return of Christ and to look around and see a lot of those things happening today! May we all take the time to examine our OWN hearts to make sure we’re following God’s will and not allow the disappointing circumstances we find ourselves in to keep us from chasing hard after the Lord! Nothing we go through ever comes as a surprise to Him!!
We have a job to do, as Christians, and that’s to be a light in this dark world and point as many people to Christ as we can before our time on this earth is up! We do that by following His Word and by allowing the Holy Spirit to make us more like Him every day.
Featured Image by Marek Szturc on Unsplash