These Are Noah's Days
Scripture Reading — Luke 17:20-37
“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man.”
Luke 17:26
Jesus was passionate about the lost. If we listen carefully to his words and watch him in action, we can sense his urgency.
If our days are like Noah’s, we need to share Christ with as many lives as possible, for a lot of folk are now facing eternity without him. The ark was built, after all, to rescue people from the flood. “It was the same in the days of Lot,” says Jesus, before Sodom was destroyed. There is urgency in these stories. Lives are at stake. There’s no time to waste.
Everybody’s priorities in Noah’s days were eating, drinking, and marrying, Jesus said. In Lot’s days it was similar. These activities aren’t wrong; they might even be noble. But do our church calendars filled with socializing, fundraising, building plans, weddings, and funerals also show Jesus’ urgency?
A church leader once wrote how he wanted to be bishop for a day. If he were a bishop, he would ban all talk about evangelism. He believed such talk only saddles church members with unnecessary guilt and anxiety.
Of course, talking about evangelism can be stressful and guilt- inducing if we are unmoved by Christ’s compassion for the lost and uninterested in loving them the way he did. That’s what happens if we are just living for ourselves.
Lord, we want to be gathered where the Son of Man lives in glory with all his foundlings on earth. Forgive us for filling our time only with everyday busyness. Give us a greater share of your passion. Amen.
About the author — Norm Prenger
Rev. Norm Prenger is a graduate of Calvin Theological Seminary. He pastored churches in Alberta and British Columbia before he was disabled by a heart attack and a post-operative stroke. He now lives with his wife, Gwen, near Thunder Bay, Ontario. He enjoys fishing, writing, drumming, and encouraging his fishing partners and neighbors to follow Jesus.
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