Daily Reflection – 11/15/19
Jesus said to his disciples: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, a person who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise a person in the field must not return to what was left behind. Remember the wife of Lot. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it. I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. And there will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken, the other left.” They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather.”( Luke 17:26-37)
Reflection
What’s the point of this analogy? It’s inevitable that a thing will happen when the necessary conditions are fulfilled. The return of the Lord is certain, but the time is unknown. The Lord’s judgment comes swiftly and often unexpectedly. Jesus warns his listeners to not be caught off guard when that day arrives.
What does Jesus mean when he says that one will be taken and another left? Intimacy with a godly person does not guarantee that one will enter heaven on the day of judgment. God’s judges each person individually according to how they have lived their life and responded to his grace. No one can discharge his or her duty by proxy or association.
The good news is that God gives grace, security, and refuge to those who seek him with faith and contrition. He gives us the grace to know him personally and to accept his lordship over our lives. And he gives us the power of the Holy Spirit to live each day for his kingdom, and the readiness to receive him when he returns. God’s judgment is good news for those who are ready to meet him. Their reward is God himself, the source of all truth, beauty, goodness, love and everlasting life.
The people in Noah’s time ignored the Lord’s warning of judgment. They missed the boat, literally! Whose boat are you taking — the world’s boat to success and happiness or God’s boat to heaven and bliss with him? Those whose hope is firmly anchored in heaven will not be disappointed when God’s judgment comes. They rejoice even now that they will see the Lord in his glory! Is your hope firmly placed in God and his kingdom?
Prayer of The Day
Lord Jesus Christ , you are my hope and salvation. Help me to never lose sight of the goal of heaven and give me fresh joy and zeal to live each day for your kingdom.”
Daily Note
The time of God goes by invisibly in our time, but independently of us and of our time. We cannot interfere in time, but we have to be prepared for the moment in which the hour of God becomes present in our time. It could be today, it could be in one thousand years. What gives us security is not to know the hour of the end of the world, but the certainty of the presence of the Words of Jesus present in our life. The world will pass, but the word of God will never pass.
