Is This The End?

Adapted from Louie Giglio’s talk, Is This the End?

The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray.

1 Peter 4:7 

We are living in the last days. We’ve faced fires and floods, storms, plagues and pestilence. This begs the question, how do we handle this? There’s not exactly a handbook for handling this kind of trauma.

Unless there is. Think about what was happening when Peter penned his letters. Rome was burning, and if the stories were true, Nero was at the heart of it, playing his fiddle as he persecuted Jesus’ followers, putting them to death as fast as he could find them. To Peter, the known world was completely collapsing around him. And yet, prompted by the Holy Spirit, he continued to reach through time and speak to us:

So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things. 

2 Peter 1:12-15

Peter faced what we all will; our days are numbered, as are the days left of this world before Jesus comes back. It’s this truth that leads us to see life through a different lens and to adjust accordingly.

• We have to be patient—patient with God, with ourselves, and with others. 

Patience is, after all, a fruit of the Spirit. The time of redemption is coming; no one wants to pull the plug on this broken world more than God, but He knows there is a drain at the bottom of that decision, and the stakes are eternal. So, for the sake of all of us, He has patience with us. God allows us to be a part of His story as we spread his fame worldwide.

• We need to be urgent—urgent about the things that matter. 

So many of us spend our days hurrying through life, frantically chasing after objects and occurrences that will disappear instantly.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

2 Peter 3:10

The days are long, but the years are short. If we commit to living with a “Jesus is coming back” mentality, that has to change us. We have to spend our days well, using every moment to tell the world about Him.

• We have to live with confidence. 

Fear does not have the final word; cancer does not have the final word; death itself doesn’t even have the final word. Living with a mentality of confidence means refuting the narrative that the enemy is winning and holding fast to the truth that Jesus has already won, and even in our most uncertain moments, is winning still.

• We must live in congruence. 

We have to learn to be less concerned about not fitting in. Our call in life is to fit in with who Jesus is and become more like Him. To know that we have a destination in Heaven and to let that truth soak into our every day. Jesus has called us His own; who are we to look for any other acceptance?

Ultimately, these days are fleeting, but how we spend them will echo in eternity. Let’s be the Jesus-followers who commit to using each second of them well, heading the call to be sober-minded so that we may pray, listen, and act.