Part 45 – What It Means To Prepare for the 2nd Coming of Our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ
Our awareness of the brevity of life becomes stronger whenever death takes place for a living being or animal or even plants. I consider myself fortunate when it comes to such reminders from the Holy Spirit. Having cared for more than a hundred pets from my past to the present, and thousands of plants/trees, the experience of death comes almost monthly or every other month. At the present, for example, there are over a dozen cats and over a dozen dogs placed under my care. Even if they are fed well, somehow one or two get sick and die. When Super Typhoon Ompong delivered a series of rainy days, “Cutey”, the kitten, suddenly collapsed and never recovered. “Kelly”, the old mother cat, disappeared. “Kronos”, the brave daughter cat, went missing. When a cemented garage was developed within our compound, they killed a couple of Avocado Trees I planted plus a Malunggay Tree.
Instead of creating in me a calloused mind (calloused to the thought of death), I keep reflecting about the temporary nature of present life. People strive to have for themselves beautiful things only to lose “things” in the end. We feed animals and care for plants and trees, even our very lives to the best of our knowledge. Yet isn’t it so easy to recall that all these will come to pass ?
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ESV
“16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
What did Noah gain by saving all those animals if not God’s favor for becoming instrumental in a plan to cleanse the world? God practices His believers for His plans to be fulfilled. If, for example, you are given “lives” to work with, you are to make sure those “lives” are cared for in a way that can please Him.
Nehemiah 9:6
“You alone are the LORD You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them You give life to all of them And the heavenly host bows down before You.”
God wants us to live and be a part of giving life to this world, even if our human assessment sees so much evil or darkness, and even if we realize a sense of futility since all things will pass away someday. God wants the people He loves to live because He has great plans for us in time.
Ezekiel 16:6
“When I passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood, I said to you while you were in your blood, ‘Live!’ Yes, I said to you while you were in your blood, ‘Live!”‘
Jeremiah 29:11
English Standard Version
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”