Throughout the years many followers of Jesus have always been interested in the end times.  This is not a new phenomenon, the disciples even asked Jesus about it.  I have been asked questions about the end countless times over the years.  Let’s look at what Jesus says in Matthew 24 together today.

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains. 9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

I think that over the years people have focused on the wrong part of Jesus’ message here.  Many have tried to identify wars, natural disasters and persecution as “signs” of the end.  Certainly Jesus says that those will happen but those things have been happening since before Jesus’ time on earth.  Instead we should focus on what else He says, stand firm and preach the gospel to the world.  Those are the only parts of this that we can actually control and do anything about.  The rest is up to God.  We don’t know the when but Jesus is clear about the what.  What we should do is stand firm and share His message and love with the world.  According to Google searches there has been a recent surge in people looking for signs of the end of the world.  I suggest instead of looking for signs we look for Jesus.  We fix our eyes on Him and point others to Him whenever we can.