Look for the signs (The budding fig tree Mark 13:28-33)

Look for the signs (The budding fig tree Mark 13:28-33)

If you are as old as I am then you can remember the road trips where you did not have a GPS device giving you step by step oral directions as you drive along. You really couldn’t just set back and get lost in the music playing or get locked into a deep conversation with a passenger, everyone in the car had to be on alert and looking for road signs because there was no little voice that was going to say, “take exit 36 in two miles.” The only way that you knew what was coming up ahead of you was to read the road signs and pay attention to what they were telling you. Looking for and paying attention to what the signs said was the only safe way to navigate yourself on a classic road trip or vacation. In the parable of the budding fig tree Jesus tells the crowd that when the fig tree’s twigs get tender, and the leaves begin to come out that you know summer is near. Jesus had just given a long list of things to look for before the temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed and the end of the age would occur. He wanted to make sure that no one was caught off guard when it occurred. If you can look and see by the local vegetation when summer is around the corner, then you know the days that Jesus spoke of is drawing near when you see these signs.

God never leaves His people in the dark and if we are willing to keep our eyes open to the signs around us, we will always know what is ahead. We will not be caught off guard and wandering aimlessly because we will be prepared having received the signs and warnings that God has left for His people. We cannot be lulled to sleep by this world and miss the signs, we must be diligent, alert, and ready to adapt when we need to. Let me encourage you to take the time to read Mark chapter 13 in its entirety and see if you recognize these signs active in the world around you. Jesus gave us signs to look for and we would be foolish to ignore or miss them while on life’s journey. If I am on a road trip to Atlanta and I start seeing signs that say Atlanta in 50 miles, then a sign that say Atlanta in 25 miles, and another that says Atlanta in 10 mines, as the signs say I am getting closer to my destination I better be getting ready to take my exit. As we view the signs around us getting closer to the end then we need to make sure that we are prepared to exit this earth and walk into eternity. This is one exit that you do not want to catch you by surprise and you want to be certain that you are prepared for it.