oops

[source: the FB page of the Old Lutheran Web site]

Just about sums it up, eh? As my mother put it yesterday, isn't the whole point that we won't know, so we're meant to be living out the glorious promise of God's salvation day by day? (She also made the quite eloquent observation that it was ludicrous to be having garage sales to get rid of worldly possessions in advance of the End... if they weren't going to have use for the goods, what need would they have of the money?)

As the Bible itself states, we won't know the day. We won't know the hour. There are some things that are simply outside our control. All we can do is live in grace and let God's love work through us to take care of our families, our communities and the world around us for as long as we remain here on this earth.

Tragedies like the recent spate of horrific weather in the Midwest and South and the earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand would well serve as examples. There are some things we simply cannot predict. What we can do is be reasonably prepared, knowing yet that there are some things that are out of our control. A large earthquake may come, and it may topple even a house that is well-built. What we can do is prepare as well as possible by building those houses well.

So it is in our spiritual lives. We are not the ones in ultimate charge, but we can make decisions to follow God's example and live lives worthy of the grace we have been given.