Authentic Faith - Week 3, Day 3

Day 3: Live Each Day as if Jesus Was Coming Back

I was 14 years old and far away from God. I was full of myself and doing my own thing. I didn't need or want anybody telling me what to do. It was a Sunday night, and I had it all planned in my mind what I was going to do with my time. I was going to ride bikes with my friends in my neighborhood. We loved to go down to Smith Brother's concrete place because they had ramps and gravel pits and mountains made of sand. It was a great riding area.

"Mom, Dad, I'm going out with the guys. Be back around nine." "Todd," my mother yelled. "You're going to church tonight with me." "Aw, Mom!" I couldn't believe it. A fight broke out between my folks and me, and I just got into deeper trouble. Isn't it interesting that it often only gets you into deeper trouble when you fight or argue with your parents? My mom won, and I went to church.

That night at church, they showed a film called "A Thief in the Night." Many of you have seen it, but for those of you who haven't, it is about a girl who didn't love Jesus Christ and never wanted to become a Christian. One morning, this girl wakes up from her sleep and finds her husband and most of her friends gone. They all disappeared. What had happened was Jesus came back and took with Him all the Christians. Christians call this the Rapture.

Now, after I had watched that film, I realized that if Christ were to come back that night, I wasn't ready to see Him face to face. After the film was over, the pastor said this, "Wouldn't it be interesting to see what kind of impact we could have on our communities and schools and government, if we could just live each day as if it were the last day before Jesus came to take the Christians away?"

I wonder how your life would be different if you thought Jesus was coming back tomorrow.

Maybe you would:
1) Get serious about God and truly confess your sins.
2) Tell your friends and family about Jesus before it was too late.
3) Give up that nasty habit that has control of your life.
4) Read your Bible and pray more.
5) Be more careful over the things you look at and see.
6) Be more compassionate and patient.
7) Be unselfish (you'd put other people first).

Would you live today any differently if you knew Jesus was coming back tomorrow?

Here's the challenge. Each day wake up and live it as if it was the last day before Jesus comes back. Who knows, maybe one day you will be right!

Time Out:

Look up Matthew 24:36-50 and answer the following:

1) How is the society we live in like that of Noah's time period?

2) Are you ready for Jesus to come back? What are some specific things you need to work on?

3) What happens to the man who doesn't take the master's (Jesus) arrival seriously? (Hint v. 51)

4) Where does that person end up? (It begins with an H and ends with two LL's)