It had snowed. But surely it was spring. The local ice cream store had opened. The fact that it was below freezing did not matter. It was spring and the ice cream store was a sign of the future. Warm summer evenings were just around the corner.
Jesus told us to watch for signs. In Matthew 16:2-3 we read, “He said unto them, when it is evening, ye say, it will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, it will be foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?”
Once His “disciples came unto Him privately saying, ‘Tell us, when shall these things be? What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?’” (Matthew 24:3)
Jesus followed this by saying that wars are not a sign of the end of the world. Wars, unfortunately, are the norm. In all recorded history we have less than 25 years when we do not have an account of a war somewhere in the world. Wars are not the sign of the end. In Matthew 24:14 Jesus tells us the sign of the end is the proclamation of the gospel to the whole world. Do you want to help proclaim that good news?
Written by Roger Bothwell on April 1, 2003
Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
rogerbothwell.org