But the end of all things is at hand; be ye therefore sober, and watch unto  prayer.–1 Peter 4:7

In his devotion for today, Pastor Jack Graham writes: A farmer and his wife were asleep one night and at midnight, the big grandfather clock went off… “BONG”! But something had malfunctioned in that clock, and instead of going “BONG” just 12 times, it went for a 13^th time. So that farmer woke up with a panic on his face and he turned to his wife and said, “Woman, get up! It’s later than it’s ever been before!”

Today, it’s later than it’s ever been. “The end is near” isn’t just a sign hanging on someone’s neck, but it’s a present reality for all of us living in the last days. There is no sign that awaits fulfillment. There is no prophetic message that has yet been untold and unfulfilled before the return of Christ. It could happen any time!

The only thing that’s keeping Christ from returning at this very moment is that God is waiting in mercy. He is delaying his judgment in these final days so that more can come to Christ. But as believers, you and I should be living in light of the immediate expectancy of the return of Jesus Christ.

So when it comes to waiting on Christ to return, live your life like it could happen today by making him known to the world!

CHRIST COULD RETURN ANY DAY. SO LIVE EACH DAY WITH THE FOCUS OF MAKING HIS NAME KNOWN TO THE WORLD!

Many years ago I met Charles “Tremendous” Jones, the man who came up with the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid principle). I’ve found that to be good advice. We preachers tend to cloud the issues with too much verbiage. However, as I read 1 Samuel 12:22-24 it seems to me that the prophet Samuel already knew about this principle.

Samuel was “old and grayheaded”(1 Samuel 12:2) when he gathered the people of Israel for a session of instructions before turning them over to their new king. Samuel had been a great man and witnessed a great many things. He had seen nations rise and fall. He had experienced God in his life in ways few others have. His love for Israel was deep, his devotion was strong, and his heart was full. He had a message burning in his heart that literally meant life or death for his people. His message was serious and he knew it was important to keep it simple.

He wasn’t there to entertain them, nor to brag about himself, nor even to give them something new. His task was to simply remind them of something they already knew. In vs. 24 he mentions two commands that should never be forgotten or lightly esteemed–“Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart–“.

First, they are told to fear the LORD. He knew very well that their insistence for a king was a departure from God, their true King, and disrespectful to God. Were they to “Fear the LORD” they wouldn’t walk in the ways of the world. No commandment is more basic, fundamental, and helpful than this. Without a fear of God they were in grave danger–so are we! As Solomon said,”Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.”(Ecc. 12:13). Those who don’t are headed for trouble of the most serious sort.

Second, they were told to faithfully “serve him in truth with all your heart”. He knew that they had tendency to serve other gods, a propensity to sin. He knew that they were often confused about their priorities and that their national existence depended on their allegiance to the One and Only True and Living God.

Even so, our survival, national or otherwise, depends on our willingness to fear God and faithfully discharge our duties. When we allow other things to come between us and God we will suffer for it. Even sinless things can become sinful when they distract us and hinder us from fulfilling our God-given duties. Unless He has first place in our life things are out of place, and we are the worse for it.

Two plain and simple commands–“fear the LORD, and serve him”, but oh so much depends on it. So, how is your personal relationship with God? Have you made Him your first love, top priority, and reason for living?

For if these thing be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our LORD Jesus Christ.   (2 Peter 1:8).

If we desire to glorify our LORD by fruitfulness, we must have certain things within us; for nothing can come out of us which is not first of all within us. We must begin with faith, which is the groundwork of all the virtues; and then diligently add to it virtue, knowledge, temperance, and patience. With these we must have godliness and brotherly love. All these put together will most assuredly cause us to produce, as our life fruit, the clusters of usefulness, and we shall not be mere idle knowers but real doers of the Word. These holy things must not only be in us, but abound, or we shall be barren. Fruit is the overflow of life, and we must be full before we can flow over.

We have noticed men of considerable parts and opportunities who have never succeeded in doing real good in the conversion of souls; and after close observation we have concluded that they lacked certain graces which are absolutely essential to fruit bearing. For real usefulness, graces are better than gifts. As the man is, so is his work. If we would do better, we must be better. (From “Faith’s Checkbook”)

Along this same line, Adrian Rogers reminds us that being comes before doing, character counts more than conditions. He wrote:

This world says if we could just arrange conditions where we never have any sorrow, pain, or hurts, then we could change men. If we can change conditions we can change character. But the Bible teaches just the opposite.

The world puts the emphasis on condition—God puts the emphasis on character. Someone has well said you can’t purify the water by painting the pump. And yet that’s what we try to do. We think that if we can change the exterior or make conditions such that we never have any hurts, then we’re going to be okay. But, Jesus put the emphasis upon character. Upon what you are, not what you have.

Yesterday was “Memorial Day” and a lot of folks have been thinking about life, death, and heaven, especially heaven. However, there are a lot of misconceptions about heaven. Believe it or not, heaven actually sounds boring to some poor deluded souls.

It was with this thought in mind that Joe Gibbs wrote these words:

Actually, the Bible says heaven will be a total experience of newness  that touches everything about us and everything we do. Not just better singing and sermons. Not just better food options at church potlucks. Better everything. The very best of everything. Renewed, remade, reborn.

God has promised, “I create new heavens and a new earth” (Isaiah 65:17), meaning that while we’re going to live in a place we’ve never been before, it will contain perfected elements of things we’ve always known. But instead of fatigue and physical limitations, we’ll have total freedom of enjoyment. Instead of sin’s empty promises, we’ll know constant satisfaction. Instead of having to lock our doors and watch our backs, we’ll learn what it really means to live without fear. Of anything.

Don’t go worrying that God is baiting you with free gift offers that are going to end up being a time-share presentation. These new heavens and new earth are His gift of undying, undiluted life to you. It’s definitely something you don’t want to miss.

Pray this prayer: Lord, I don’t deserve the privilege of having this kind of hope in my future. But I’m so grateful—eternally grateful—that you desire this kind of life for me. Thank you for making it possible through Christ. Thank you for making it mine.

As our nation observes Memorial Day, please take time to reflect on what others have provided for you, thank God for His blessings, express in some appropriate way your appreciation, and pray–especially for the families who have suffered the loss of a loved one in the pursuit of freedom