What's Going On?

Well, apparently the world didn't end! There have been, of course, many comments and opinions made regarding the failed prediction of final judgment that was to take place last weekend. Some of them reasonable attempts to address this miscalculation, but many mocking it or spouting their own take on predictions and God's judgment. I've personally lived through several modern-day predictions that have not come to pass, Christian and otherwise. Like the day I flew from Colorado to California in 1969, when California was to slide into the Pacific after a cataclysmic earthquake. BTW, we landed safely.

But it's hard to ignore the continuing headlines in the media. It's hard to ignore the media itself! As we see the tumultuous unrest of the "Arab Spring," political infighting in the US, along with the moral and ethical personal failures, such as the recent Schwarznegger revelation. It's hard not to wonder, "what's going on?" Consider the horrible devastation and loss of life caused by several storms, tornados, and flooding this year.
This is no prediction, but a reminder- Jesus Christ is coming back, and there will be a final judgment brought upon the world. Everything taking place and noted by the media are simply indicators of this. See the following chapters for Jesus' own words on the subject- Matthew  24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. What I always take away from reading Jesus' words of warning is to be ready and to be alert for His coming, not trying to figure out when.
But the question remains, what is going on? Not so much about everything on the outside, but internally, in you, and me, and others? What's going on between me and God? What's going on between me, my wife, my children and grandchildren? What's going on in the lives of others I come in contact with during the course of a day? Do we even care about anyone but ourself? It's a matter of priorities... internal priorities.
IMHO, we, as a nation (the US), as a people, are way to focused on externals. This is not a new revelation, nor profound (I think most of us are pretty aware of this... or should be). Externals- what we have, what we do, what we eat, how we look, and so on. But is our attention upon all these things very useful or beneficial... to anyone? It's easy to scoff and carp at failed predictions, but do we just go on our merry way, preoccupied with ourselves and this world? What's going on?
For forty years I've heard, read, even studied and taught about the the Lord Jesus' return, so I don't much ask what's going on about the world around me. It stirs my heart to ask of myself, what's going on... between me and the Lord who will return? About what I'm doing in response to His call on my life? About the billions of people who have never even heard about Jesus, let alone His coming back?
So I ask, in light of everything going on around you, what's going on... for you? Hopefully, you'll join me in pursuing a legitimate, internal answer to that question. "Therefore, be alert, because you don't know on what day your Lord will return." [Matt 24:42 GWT)