17 Jan - Mark 13

We are in Mark 13 today for the Tattoo Church Reading Plan. Here are some points to think about:

1. This is honestly a very confusing chapter in Mark. Mark talks a lot about the end of the world and all that kind of scary stuff but there are some things we can learn.
2. Notice that after Jesus talks about the end of the world he says that; “No one knows the day or hour” he will return. The Bible tells us about Jesus dying, raising from the dead and going back up into heaven. Then we are told that one day Jesus will come back to earth and gather the people who follow him and take them to heaven too. There is much debate about how that looks but the reality is that it will happen in some form. So Jesus warns us to “keep watch!”

I find it interesting that Jesus gives all this imagery about how things will end but says we don’t know when the end really is. Crazy huh? Maybe you’re a bit skeptical and I can see how this chapter might not help but think about this: What if it’s true? If it is true then I think two things are applicable: 1) I don’t want to know the exact time. Just look at how nuts people went with the whole Mayan calendar “predicting” the end of the world?!? No thanks. Which leads me to 2) I want to live life in such a way that I’ll be ready to stand before Jesus at any second. We do not know when he will return but we can make sure we live everyday in a way that when he does return he does not find us “sleeping.” So how do we do that? We get that answer from yesterday’s reading. We love God and love people.

So are you living your life in such a way that you would be proud to stand before God and tell him about it? If not what needs to change? Ask God for the courage and discipline to make those changes. If you’re still skeptical I understand. But if you genuinely want to find truth I’d love to help you. The truth is that there is a lot of evidence to support the veracity of the claims made in the Bible both about Jesus and the Bible as a whole. Feel free to email me at Tommy@tattoochurch.com