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Luke 21 29-33 WATCH AND PRAY V 01 Luke 21 29-31 Cast off and put on
📖 Luke 21:29-33
*FRIEND OF GOD*
15Jun2021 - *Cast off and put on* - _Luke 21:29-33_ - WATCH AND PRAY V (01) – Bible reading: _Romans 13:11-12_
The Lord is showing us that we are at the end of the age and that we need to rise and shine for Him. We are here to be cast upon the Lord, for Him to motivate and energise us for the task that is at hand.
The Lord is coming very soon.
_Luke 21:29-31 Then He spoke to them a parable: "Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. (30) When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. (31) So you also, when you see these things happening, *know that the kingdom of God is near*._
The Lord is giving us a simple analogy. When we witness events happening in nature, we make predictions of what will happen next and we are usually right, for we have experienced the sequence of events.
The Lord is telling us to understand the end times in the same manner.
When we see all of these sicknesses and calamities happening today, in our world, *this is not the time for us to panic or go to God asking Him to take away the crises but for us to be even more committed to doing the task at hand*.
We know for certain that these catastrophic events that are happening are just a precursor before the actual end of the age and the return of our Lord.
_Matthew 24:32-35 “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. (33) So you also, *when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors*! (34) Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. (35) Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away._
We are at the end of the age and we need to be focusing our attention to do what the Lord has entrusted to us. We must watch and pray. Watchfulness is not being inactive but fulfilling the task that God has entrusted to us.
At this time of the pandemic, we have seen many who took ill and we all prayed earnestly. To some of them, the Lord took away to be with Him and to some of them the Lord gave healing and they are with us.
*Does it mean that the Lord did not hear the prayers for the ones whom He took to be with Him but He only heard the prayers for ones who recovered*?
*No. The Lord heard all our prayers*. Even the ones whom the Lord took to be with Him were also an answer to our prayers, *according to His will*, and the ones who recovered were also an answer to our prayers, according to His will.
_Philippians 1:20 according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but *with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death*._
Therefore, whether we live or die, we are here to do His will and complete the task that He has entrusted to us.
_I Peter 4:7 But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers._
The Lord wants us to endure to the end. This is not the time to be inward-looking and self-obsessed. Yes, we must take the necessary precautions but let us give ourselves, wholly, to the task at hand, till the very last breath of our lives.
*What is the task at hand*?
_Matthew 24:13-14 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. (14) And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come._
This good news is of the kingdom of Jesus, where Jesus reigns. He has authority and rule and, in His kingdom, we experience the Shalom of God, even in a time of darkness.
This message of the good news of Jesus’ kingdom must be preached in all the world, in all professions and all walks of life. We need preachers of the Goodnews of the kingdom of God at the highest levels of Government and business.
Preaching is not just verbal proclamation but both by life and word. Jesus did and taught and so must we. This is the task that we have to do. We must arise and shine till the very end.
_Romans 13:11-12 And do this, knowing the time, that now *it is high time to awake out of sleep*; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. (12) The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore *let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light*._
This is the time to cast off all things that hinder us from fulfilling the task that the Lord has entrusted to us. We must commit ourselves to the Lord, as His church, for sanctification. The smell of the world must not be smelt on us but it ought to be the fragrance of Jesus.
_II Corinthians 2:14 Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and *through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place*._
*Thought to ponder*
```We have reached our final sprint. Let us finish our race, in glory.```