“But about THAT DAY or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Matthew 24:36).

My family including my sons and their families have busy calendars, so it becomes a project just to set a date for our family to gather. Can you relate? I do love for our families to gather, and we try to get together for major family events like birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter. I love planning for these events—setting the date, putting together the guest list, planning the menu, the theme, the décor, and then preparing the food and the house for company. Of all of that, really the only challenge for me is setting the date. I usually do most of the planning, but a couple of times my husband has totally surprised me for a birthday and an anniversary. I am in the middle of planning our annual cookout for one of those big birthdays for my husband, and it will be especially sweet because he was recovering from shoulder surgery this time last year. I am looking forward to this big day.

There is another big day coming up. The date has already been set, and we are all invited. The thing is, that while we know it is going to happen, we will not know when because God in His wisdom has not revealed it. Even Jesus did not know. “But concerning THAT DAY and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” (Matthew 24:36). This will be the most important event of our lives, but the timing is a surprise. It could literally be any time.

Jesus spoke of THAT DAY, and he taught in parables to emphasize the need to not put off the preparation just because we do not know when. We need to accept the invitation in spite of the fact that we do not know the date, because it is the most important invitation we will ever receive.

Paul also referred to THAT DAY when he preached to the Greeks among their idols to tell them about the One True Living God. “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:29-31).

Several Scriptures even compare That Day to a surprise invasion. Paul puts it like this:“For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2).

Typically, we ask for the date before we commit to an invitation. That is understandable, because we may have made other plans that would conflict. However, for this big day, it does not matter what other plans have been made. This day will supersede every other plan, event, need, status, or situation. So, do not wait to commit, because it might be too late.

All this means there is one other date that is as important as THAT DAY, and it is TODAY. Today is the day and now is the hour to make your peace with God, to accept His invitation to eternal life in glory, and to begin laying up treasures in heaven. TODAY is the day to begin living every day in the light of THAT DAY, in the light of our Kingdom eternal home.

“God again set a certain day, calling it ‘TODAY.’ This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted: ‘TODAY, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.’” (Hebrews 4:7).

In Christ,

Judy