DEC 27

2 Peter 3:1-14
Memorise 1 Thess 5:3
“There shall come in the last days scoffers”

Are there scoffers out there who laugh at the concept of a doomsday? 2 Peter 3:3-4 has already described for us what people at large will be thinking before the world comes to an end, “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the Fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation”. Nothing has changed. The world did not end. Christ did not come. Let’s eat, drink, and be merry. Don’t worry, be happy.

The Asian Tsunami on Boxing Day that claimed 280,000 lives occurred on a clear blue, business-as-usual day. Nobody expected such a catastrophe. Peace one moment, death the next. Mr Eio Eng Hua of True Life Bible- Presbyterian Church testified: “I cheated death by half an hour! It was Sunday morning on 26th December 2004 in Sri Lanka. I was driving to Colombo on my way to attend a church service from my resort located near Kalutara (37 km away). The sky was blue and the road was clear. It was a relaxing drive. I had to pass an area known as Moratuwa where on both sides of the road you can see hundreds of wooden houses with zinc roofs usually occupied by the lower income people here. That stretch of road is about 5 km. It was about 9 am when I drove past that place. There was nothing abnormal or unusual at that point of time. When I return from Colombo about one and a half hour later, to my horror, I saw tree trunks, branches, debris and household items spread over the 5 km stretch of road. What was more shocking was that 80% of the houses on both sides of the road were flattened! People were running wild and screaming. I didn’t know what was happening. It was only later on that I learned that at 9.30 am the killer waves—tsunamis—had wiped out the homes of the poor residents in that area. It was as if some weapon of mass destruction had exploded there. Many people were either killed or missing, and others badly injured. If not for God’s grace, the killer waves could also have ‘swallowed’ me also. It was a matter of half an hour difference”.

They never saw it coming, until it was too late. Likewise for these scoffers, they will continue in the unrepentant sinful lives, and “when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

Thought: Am I a scoffer?
Prayer: Lord, help me live my life for Thee and for Thy glory.