Week 16: April 13-19, 2025 - Stay Awake!

This week’s daily readings:

April 13-19, 2025

This week’s devotional:

Stay Awake!

by Rev. David Craig

Scripture: 

“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” 

— Mark 13:32-37 (ESV) 

Reflection:

Throughout history, many people have tried to predict when Christ will return. Some have claimed to have cracked some sort of code contained in Scripture. Others claim to have received a special revelation about it. A few have even revised their predictions after the first date didn’t work out.

In the mid-19th century, a Baptist preacher in upstate New York named William Miller was one of the prominent figures in the second great awakening. In his studies of Scripture, especially the book of Daniel, he became convinced that the Lord would return in the 1840s. Initially, he claimed that Jesus’ second coming would happen between March 21st, 1843, and March 21st, 1844. When that didn’t work out, “after further discussion and study,” he moved the date to April 18th, and then October 22nd, 1844. Needless to say, none of his predictions came true.

In more recent history, there was a man named Harold Camping. He was co-founder and President of the Family Radio Network which grew from a single station in 1959 to over 150 markets by 2011. After several end-time predictions of his failed to come about, the network collapsed financially, and Camping faded into obscurity. 

The signs of the end times are all around us, and we look forward to Christ’s return. The passage above tells us that not even Jesus, the Son, knows when that day will be! Instead of wasting our time and resources trying to predict something we can’t possibly know, let’s concentrate on living out our faith and reflecting Jesus to the world around us. Let’s all make sure that, when the Master of the house returns, we are awake and ready!

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, we look forward to your second coming when death and sin are defeated forever, and everything is made right. As we wait for your perfect plan to come to completion, help us to be ready at all times for your return. Amen