Luke 21:36 ‘Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.’

DAILY READING’; Luke 11:29-54; Genesis 20; Psalm 13

William Miller was a Baptist preacher who made wrong predictions about the return of Christ. After 14 years of studying the Bible, William Miller became convinced that Christ would return in 1843. When Miller announced April 3 as the day, some disciples went to mountaintops, hoping for a head start to heaven. Others were in graveyards, planning to ascend in reunion with their departed loved ones. Philadelphia society ladies clustered together outside town to avoid entering God’s kingdom amid the common herd. When April 4 dawned as usual the Millerites were disillusioned, but they took heart. Their leader had predicted a range of dates for Christ’s return. They still had until March 21, 1844. The devout continued to make ready, but again they were disappointed. A third date—October 22, 1844—was set, but it also passed.

The truth is that no man knows the date or the hour. Rather than speculate about dates we are asked to live constantly ready.
The Bible teaches much about the Second Coming of our Lord, to stir up our hearts to greater consecration and fervour in our service to God.
Unfortunately, some people erroneously misunderstand these teachings to the extent of trying to pinpoint and predict the exact date of Christ’s return.
But so far, every attempt to set a date has failed. Jesus said, ‘Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.’ (Matthew 24:36)
The best thing we can do, while we await the return of the Lord is to always live ready.
Jesus told 4 parables in Matthew 24 and 25 that indicate we should live constantly alert and ready. These are the parable of the Goodman of the House, the parable of the wise and evil servants, the parable of the ten virgins and the parable of the talents.
In the parable of the virgins, the 5 foolish virgins had every opportunity to get oil, while they could, but they squandered the time of grace.
As believers in these last days, we need to get oil in our lamps while we still can and keep our lights burning brightly.
The long wait in this parable clearly depicts the long time that the church has waited for our Lord to come. Almost two thousand years have passed since Christ ascended up to heaven! Generation after generation of Christians have been looking for Christ to appear in the skies, but still He has not come. His long delay has led some to believe that He is not going to return any time soon or even come back at all. This has resulted in increase of iniquity and spiritual coldness..
The negative responses to the long delay in Christ’s coming today is exactly what the Bible predicts will happen. We see this in 2 Peter 3:3,4 ‘Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.’
The Bible tells us that the day of the Lord would come as a snare upon those in the world, it would spring on them when they least expect it. This is why we should watch and pray always. (Luke 21:35-36).
As believers in these last days, we need to get oil in our lamps while we still can. This we do through investing time in prayers, study of the Word, worship and fellowship with the Spirit.
Our concern is not to speculate about certain dates, but rather to live daily as wise and faithful servants who are prepared for the soon-arrival of their Lord.

PRAYER: Lord, please grant me the grace to begin to live ready while there is still time. Please help me to make the needed spiritual investments in fervent prayers and study of Your Word so that I can constantly overcome and live victorious in these end-times in Jesus Name.
QUOTE:
True success is not verifiable in the fact that a man has never fallen before but in the fact that he did not only fall but also got up. WORDBITE 222