What if Jesus Came Back Today?

Lately, I have been pondering upon a very intriguing, and frightening question. A question which led to several follow-up questions, and consequently, compelled me to engage in self-examination. And today, I'd like to take you-the reader-on a little journey in an effort to describe how this self-examination process unfolded. My hope by doing so, is to humbly encourage you to also devote some time for self-examination. Perhaps you may never have thought about it before. But examining our individual lives, is a vital part of our spiritual growth, as we strive to lead lives that resemble that of Jesus Christ; following in His footsteps. In other words, examining our daily choices, particularly the way we choose to spend our free time, the type of conversations we choose to engage in-or not-as well as, the TV shows and movies we choose to watch, can be an incredibly eye-opening experience. But before I elaborate on the subject, please allow me to digress, and go back to the beginning of it all.

As I mentioned earlier, I have been pondering upon an intriguing and frightening question. And such question is this: "What if Jesus came back today?" Thus, naturally propelling follow-up questions such as: "What would He find me doing? "Would He be pleased with the way I spend my time and lead my life here on earth? The quest for sincere, objective, honest and transparent answers to such questions, consequently led me to engage in self-examination. Quite frankly-but not surprisingly-a number of things came to mind, which require change. Especially with regards to the way I spend my leisure time; (which just between you and me, happens to be quite a lot... :)). As I attempted to objectively examine my daily choices, I discovered something that ought to have been quite obvious, yet I still managed to be amazed by it. Perhaps I may not have been amazed by this "discovery" in and of itself; but rather by the fact, that it was so overt. And yet, I had made little or no effort to change it. This "discovery" I made, pertains to a number of habits of mine. These habits are not necessarily sinful habits. But they are constant distractions which subtly rob me of time, and even-I dare say- temporarily shift my focus from the things of real significance and/or importance. That is, heavenly things; things with eternal implications.

One of these distracting habits of mine, is spending the majority of my free time on social network sites. Such as: Facebook, twitter, orkut, so on and so forth. Now, please do not misunderstand me. I'm not suggesting or implying that spending time on social networks is necessarily bad. It can-and is-used for good.  But by the same token, it can also be distracting to me at times. Again, my intention is not to play the blame game here. After all, if someone is to blame, that someone is none other than: Me, myself, and I. For I alone am responsible for the choices I make. Once again, I cannot emphasize this enough:  My intention is not to blindly criticize the existence of social networks; or the Internet for that matter. If that were the case, I would have to delete this blog, or resign to the possibility of being called a hypocrite.

The point I'm trying to make is this: Access to the internet and advanced technological gadgets, such as i-phones, i-pads, i-pods, Notebooks, Notepads, laptops, and the good "old fashioned" cell phones, can be-and are-wonderful things. For instance, we can now share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with people from all over the world, from all walks of life and different backgrounds, thanks to our access to the Internet. We can share our faith and hope in Jesus Christ with friends and family members, through social networks, blogs, websites, and TV broadcasts. We even have Bible apps (applications) on i-phones nowadays! (Isn't that amazing?!)

By contrast, we must not forget to mention the fact, that the incredible technological advancement which we are witnessing in post-modern day society, also contributes directly and significantly-from my perspective-to the astounding increase of things, both material and virtual, competing for our precious time and attention. And we wonder why we often find ourselves, out of breath, out of time, stressed, fatigued, and even sometimes, depressed. (But I digress...That should be a topic for a future blog post.)

In closing, please allow me to say this: Everything in life, has its pros and cons. Technology is no different. I have said it before, and I'll say it again: Technology, in and of itself, is not bad. The problem arises, when we become chronically distracted, addicted, or even enslaved by it. And that is why, we must be careful to examine ourselves, examine our hearts, our minds, and our daily lives. (I for one, am the first in line.) We must avoid chronic distractions, and weed them out of our hearts, before they enslave us, and shift our focus from what really matters: Heavenly things. We must strive to keep our eyes upon Jesus at all times. We must ask God to help and guide us in living lives that are pleasing to Him. We must constantly remind ourselves, that life here on earth is a vapor. We do not know what tomorrow brings. We do not know when He will come to take us home, or when we'll go. We do not know. Therefore, we must always be ready to go. For we do not know what tomorrow brings.

May the LORD our GOD have mercy upon us all, and lead us constantly in His Everlasting Light, so that we may not be caught by surprise when that frightful, yet glorious DAY arrives!

In the glorious Name of Jesus I pray,

Amen, Amen, and Amen!

Scriptural food for thought: "Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Christ is [in you]; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith."  

(2 Corinthians 13:5; New Living Translation)

"Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn back to the LORD." 

(Lamentations 3:40; New Living Translation)

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses in the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race [H]e has set before us."  

(Hebrews 12:1; New Living Translation)

 

Let all glory, honor, and praise be given to the LORD our GOD always!
Amen, Amen, and Amen!