Is it Bad Enough Yet?

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

Our concerns about the “last days” tend to be very personal. They usually arise, not because we are actually suffering, but because we dread suffering. Concerns focus not so much on the destructiveness of evil around us, but whether or not evil will affect our way of living. Such narrow concerns reveal our blindness to evil. Christians must not withdraw from the world entirely or use the wrong methods to defend themselves against it. Believers who attempt to insulate themselves from the moral degradation of the last days must not insulate themselves from God. Whenever material prosperity or pleasure are used in place of God’s protection, we fool ourselves. But God loves us too much to leave us in our delusion. If it takes the loss of everything to get our attention, God has been known to allow that to happen. Does your life exhibit an awareness of the desperate condition of the world? Are you using God’s methods for dealing with terrible times?

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.