Stand Firm to the End: Preparing for the End of Days

End Time theology is a popular theme in the church today. Some believers scramble to compete with each other in reciting all the disasters that the Bible says will happen. How well they know the signs of those coming times. Yet few bother to stop and think about the things that Jesus says we will have to live through before that time comes.

It doesn't matter what End Times theology you subscribe to since Jesus tells us of a time called "the beginning of sorrows," which happens before any of it. It is all there in Matthew, chapter 24. Even if you believe in a pre-tribulation rapture, like the majority of the church, you will not escape this time. Even so, few believers ever look beyond that list of disasters as being more than a checklist of things that will usher in the Lord's return, not even realizing that wars and persecution will happen before we see Him.

Why did the Lord tell us about all this? Was it so we could watch for His coming? Or could it be that He had a much more practical purpose in letting us know what to expect and what we would have to live through? Either way, He did give us warning, and one we should heed.

What will we do when that time comes? It depends a lot on how prepared we are for that day. While we all will be faced with the same troubles, those most prepared will likely fare better than those who aren't.

If 2020 has taught us anything, it's that disasters are hard to live through. Worse than that, disasters can pile up, giving us multiple crises to deal with at one time, thereby magnifying their impact. That sounds an awful lot like what the Lord talks about back there in Matthew 24. Perhaps we need to take a better look at what He said, so we know what to expect.

The good news is that Jesus not only warns us of what is to come, but what we should do about it. He's already given us all the advice we need. Whether that advice makes sense or not, we can be sure that it is the ideal course of action. Otherwise, the Lord wouldn't have told us so.

This insightful book explores Jesus' warning to us, looking not only at what is coming, but what we can do about it. By following His advice, we guarantee that His best will be done in our lives. While many other believers may sit around, praying for deliverance, those who do what the Lord has instructed will already be protected from the storm.

Our time is limited; after all, "no man knows the day or hour." All we know is that it is coming. That's okay, though, as there is still time. We can emulate the five wise virgins, who prepared for the coming of the bridegroom, rather than being counted amongst the foolish, who didn't bother to prepare.