There is one of Aesop’s Fables titled, The Boy who cried Wolf (although it has also appeared under other names through the centuries). To paraphrase the fable the village shepherd boy knows that if he calls out “Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is chasing the sheep!” the villagers of the town will come rushing to his aid. It is a safety precaution, a signal given so the boy knows he will not be alone to face a wolf attacking the sheep. Only this naughty boy cannot resist the temptation to use the signal cry to the ease his boredom. He does this not once but twice and the villagers all come running with angry and fearful faces only to find the boy laughing. He is warned not to repeat the prank both times (and in some versions of the fable it is more than two times) or the next time the villagers will not come thinking he is again lying.

Unknown to the shepherd boy the wolf has witnessed his pranks and heard the villager’s warnings. Only the wolf realizes villagers aren’t lying to the boy, they really won’t come when he calls again. So he makes his move upon the flock. Of course the boy sounds the alarm, “Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is chasing the sheep!” only the villager’s think he is lying again and they do not rush to help him.

At the end of the day when the boy does not return to town with the sheep the villager’s go to check on him. Here again the fable’s ending has differed through the years. Sometimes the boy is sitting, sobbing the sheep scattered and lost and when he asks why the villagers didn’t believe him when he used the signal. Sadly he is told it was because he had lied previously and so even when he told the truth no one believed him. Other times the boy and the sheep are all eaten by the wolf and the villagers use the event to warn their children about the dangers of lying. Either version has the same message, when you lie you risk not being believed even when you tell the truth. Sometimes the price you pay is one of life or death.

In John 14:1-4 Jesus is talking to His disciples and he says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

The entire book of Revelation was written by John in solitary confinement upon the island of Patmos is about the second coming of Jesus Christ. To John in Revelation 22:7 Jesus spoke these words, “Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book.” In fact in Revelation 22 in verses 7 through 20 Jesus tells John 3 times He is coming soon.

In Mark 13:5-31 Jesus tells Peter, John, James and Andrew the signs of the ending of the age and His second return. And He warned them in verse 5, “…Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many.” In verses 32-37 Jesus tells them that the day and time of His coming back are unknown but they are to keep watch.

There are more verses with similar if not the exact same words, promises and warnings. Despite the fact Jesus tells us that the day and time of His second coming is unknown to anyone but God Himself through the centuries multiple upon multiple people have claimed to know this information. They read the prophecies and they allow themselves to be misled and they in turn mislead others and the world watches as they are proven wrong and the people of the world laugh or shake their heads, pick up their daily lives and go on. Such events don’t even get as much attention as they used to for again and again, like the shepherd boy, the signal cry has been sounded for a false alarm.

Only Jesus coming back to earth again is real. This is no fable, parable or story made up to teach children (or adults) how to live choosing good things, to be good people. The Bible, the prophecies within it, the record of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, ascension and how He will come again is real. Within it the signs that point toward the ending of time are given. I can read them, just in Mark 13 alone and see how many are happening all around us today. I wonder, as are many, how soon is the second coming going to be?

The world seems to be asleep as we attempt to evangelize its population. Are they asleep or are they apathetic towards the whole idea of Jesus returning to earth because it has been so long since Jesus was here the first time and made His warnings and because of those who have allowed themselves to be misled and then mislead others? Have we as a society become like the villagers and though we hear the cry we think it is the cry of a prankster, a liar?

Add to this the fact that Christians have walked along wider paths than the narrow one that leads to Jesus, getting distracted and lead astray from their mission to take the word to others so that sometimes it is hard to tell a Christian from a non-Christian. The deceptions of the Devil have always been crafty and capable of deceiving anyone.

But it is time for Christians to shake off the grip of the world, get on our knees and seek our mission and rebuke Satan in Jesus’ name! It is time to remind the world, Jesus is coming soon!

Sounding the alarm,

-Faye