17 May 2007 Devotion for Today “The Barometer is Not Stuck” Matt 24:37-44

17 May 2007  Devotion for Today  "The Barometer is Not Stuck"  Matt 24:37-44

 

A number of years ago there appeared in the New Yorker magazine an account of a Long Island resident who ordered an extremely sensitive barometer from the respected company, Abercrombie and Fitch.  When the instrument arrived at his home he was disappointed to discover that the indicating needle appeared to be stuck- pointing to the sector marked "Hurricane."  After shaking the barometer vigorously several times- never a good idea with a sensitive instrument- and never getting the point to move, the barometer's owner wrote a scathing letter to the store, and on the following morning, on his way to his office in New York he mailed it.  That evening the man returned to Long Island not only to find his barometer missing, but his house as well!  The needle of the barometer had been pointing correctly the whole time!  The month was September, 1938- the day a terrible hurricane that almost leveled Long Island.

 

That illustration goes to prove that when there are warning signs, there is something wrong, and we must never ignore them.  The problem is, we have adapted to the warning signs for so long, that we no longer realize what trouble is until it is too late.  Like the boy who cried wolf, we ignore the urgency because we have been told for so long that its not real, or it won't happen, or if it does happen, it will never happen to us.   But when the real danger comes, we tend to dismiss it as easily as before.

 

Christ tells us in His Word never to ignore the warning signs. 

 

But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,  and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.  Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.  But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

 

In Jesus Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24, Jesus tells us what happens when the warning signs are ignored.  What warning signs?  The fact that Jesus may return at any moment and that we must be prepared when He does.  The problem is that we have grown so insular with respect to the signs of Christ's return that we tend not to take them seriously.  We turn a blind eye to the wickedness and confusion of our world because we think that as long as it does not affect or hurt us, then it cannot be a real problem.  We deceive ourselves into thinking that the data or the information which so blatantly doesn't matter.  Like the test pattern which drills us for an emergency on television, it constantly says, "This is only a test!"   I wonder if they will be able to broadcast the real thing when Christ returns?   Don't ignore the warning signs.  The barometer is not stuck!  What we experience today is a true sign of the imminent return of our Lord.

 

Have a blessed day!

 

 

Rev. Jeffery C. Russell
Salem Baptist Church
Elizabeth City, NC
jefferyrussell@earthlink.net

jcrussell@liberty.edu

 

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