The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray.
1 Peter 4:7 NIV
The End of All Things
The Seven Years’ War, from 1756 to 1763 was the first global war, fought in Europe, India, America, and at sea. In North America, imperial rivals Britain and France struggled for supremacy. Early in the war, the French won a number of battles, but in 1758, the tide turned. The British captured Louisbourg, followed by Quebec City in 1759 and Montreal in 1760. With the Treaty of Paris of 1763, France formally ceded Canada to the British and New France in Canada came to an end.
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Followers of Jesus live in a perpetual tension. We live in this world and are impacted by its thinking, its worldview, its temptations. At the same time, we are citizens of a Kingdom in which we have never lived. We are taught its thinking and worldview as we study God’s Word. The two seldom connect, so we live with the constant pull to think, act, and respond like the world, rather than like Jesus. The promise of Jesus is that He is going to return and while we don’t know when, we are called to live in the constant awareness that it could happen any time. The apostle Peter wrote, in 1 Peter 4:7: “The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray.” He wrote this some two millennia ago, and so we wonder what Peter meant when he says the end is near. His point was that Jesus’ return could happen any time, and so we must be constantly alert and watchful. How would you live if you knew Jesus was coming today? He just might.
These have been words from the heart.
Bob Beasley