Last dance

I sat down last week to write this letter but had a difficult time finding the right words. Writing about end times can be depressing but I realized it is also joyous depending upon our perspective on life. Many years ago I heard on the radio people talking about the coming of the end of the world and saw satirical pictures of people holding signs proclaiming the end of the world. In my ignorance I mocked and laughed at them for what they were saying.

Since then I have matured and met our Lord and my perspective changed. Scriptures prophesy the inevitability of the end of time as we now know it. If we focus entirely on the end times we lose hope and depression begins to take root.

We have been given a promise of a better way, the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Scriptures teach he will not return until the apostasy comes, that is the falling away from the faith. Jesus asked, “Will I find faith when I return?” Sometime in the past few decades the meaning of the word faith has changed from the Biblical definition to man’s intellectual interpretation. We have accepted that faith is simply believing and trusting. Believing and trusting is a choice each of us must make. Faith is a gift from God revealing his will to the individual. When the spirit of God gives us the knowledge of his will we receive the assurance to believe God and have the conviction to persevere. Believing brings hope but faith brings assurance and conviction.

As we look forward to the end of time and the joy of his return, let us live with the conviction of faith through the knowledge of his will.

Alvin R. Burgess

Moses Lake