… and they shall see the Son of man coming with power and great glory on the clouds of heaven. He will send His angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Matthew 24: 30f.
Many Christians are afraid of the end times. That then there will be many wars, suffering, hunger, natural disasters and epidemics, of course we are afraid of these things. And then there is still the fear that Jesus will leave us. That you wake up in the morning, all the brothers and sisters are gone, only you are still here on earth. There are all kinds of books and movies that portray this quite impressively.
Jesus knows us and knows that we are afraid. That’s why he keeps saying, Fear not! I am with you until the end of time! I am with you, and go along with you on your way! I am with you and protect you, hold you and carry you! Do not be afraid!
We should be vigilant and not let anything come between Jesus and us. We should not fritter away our time until Jesus suddenly returns. We shall be with Him!
He has a book. In it are written the names of all the children of God. The angels have this list and look for these people and bring them to Jesus. There is nothing about our sins or good deeds, only our names are listed there, if we belong to Jesus. (There is another book. There, everything about our lives is recorded. Every act, every word and every thought is written down there. With the children of God many pages in this book are white. Everything bad and evil is blotted out. This book is used for judgement. How fortunate that only good things are noted there!) We do not have to be afraid that the angels forget or that in judgement of all our wickedness becomes apparent if we belong to Jesus! How good, that the fear is vanquished!
In the silence we can understand it and hear when Jesus say to us personally, I love you. I will never forget or leave you. You are God’s chosen child – Jesus Himself and His presence destroy any fear.
Lord Jesus, forgive me, because sometimes fear comes, because I do not trust you. But you’ll never forget me and never leave me. You’ve always kept your word and I can rely on it. You are good!
Bible Reading Today: Matthew 24: 3-42