Second Coming Concerns

August 24, 2025

I am a member of a Facebook group dedicated to snake identification. Recently, someone posted about a rattlesnake being spotted at one of the school bus drop-off points. Unfortunately, they also posted a picture of a policeman picking up the snake and removing it from the bus stop area. I use the word unfortunately because it is against the rules of this group to post pictures of people handling venomous snakes with their hands, which the policeman was doing. The administrators of the group page removed the post. A long discussion then took place, debating what was more important, how the snake was being handled or informing people there was a rattlesnake at the bus stop. It seems to me that someone could announce the presence of a rattlesnake at the bus stop without posting a picture of the snake being handled improperly. But what do I know? I do know that sometimes we do the same thing in our spiritual discussions. Let’s take the Second Coming of Jesus Christ as an example. I see so much discussion debating how and when Jesus will be coming back, but I don’t see nearly the same amount of discussion about the “main event,” the fact that Jesus is coming back. Even a casual reading of the New Testament shows that the early Christians lived with the idea that Jesus was coming back and that He was coming back soon, like tomorrow or the next day. Since then, charts have been developed, books have been written, and debates have occurred about the details of the Second Coming. Unfortunately, most Christians today live like the Second Coming of Jesus is going to occur sometime way out yonder in the future. In full disclosure, I don’t know when Jesus is coming back, and neither does anyone else except the Father, for that matter. What I do know is that He is coming back, and it will happen sooner than we think. The biggest question is not in the details or the mechanics of the Second Coming. The biggest question surrounding the Second Coming is, are we prepared for it? I suspect that when Jesus comes back, all of us preacher-theologian types will discover we got some (or a lot) of the details wrong. If we are ready for Christ’s return, seeing Him face to face and being with Him through eternity will be something to celebrate. At that point, it won’t matter how many details we got wrong. On the other hand, if we are unprepared for that day, it won’t matter how many details we got right. I will leave you with this. If you knew Jesus was coming back tomorrow, how would you live your life today? I would strongly recommend you live like that today because Jesus might come back tomorrow. Like Pastor Adrian Rogers was fond of saying, “Christians should live like Jesus was crucified yesterday, rose today, and is coming back tomorrow.” As the words of an old hymn ask, there’s a great day coming. Are you ready?

Be blessed and go be a blessing . . . Bro Andy