Green Pastures
Weekly Devotional

Pay Attention to the Warnings.

A man named Edgar lived in London, England with his family during the blitzes of WW II. It
was a fearful time for the British living in areas that were frequently being bombed by the
Nazis. Many lives were being lost in those bombings, so shelters were provided in an effort to
save as many lives as possible. At times it was the underground subways, or the lowest levels of
large buildings that provided some shelter. A warning siren was put into effect to let the people
know they should run for cover immediately. At the beginning of the air raids, a loudspeaker
announcement would cry out the news. “Take cover immediately. Head for the nearest
shelter at once.!” This message would be repeated frequently until the immediate danger was
past. No one forced people to go, but remaining outside the shelter was playing with their lives.
Eventually the people no longer needed the announcement, the siren did the job.

Edgar was a bit of a skeptic and at first he doubted it applied to him. He’d be fine. So, he stood
out in the middle of the street gazing up at the sky, watching for the planes. Even when he heard
the drone of the planes overhead, he doubted if there was any real threat. By the time he
realized the truth, it was too late. Poor Edgar. That was the last time he heard the warning that
was meant to save his life and he never did get to see the inside of the shelter. Many people
were killed because they did not take the warnings seriously or they were too slow to respond.
There is more talk than ever before about the end times and the return of the Lord to take the
Christians up to heaven in what is called “the rapture”. We read scripture; we see the signs, and
we wait because as Scripture tells us we do not know the day nor the hour. However, we are
given enough information to know it won’t be much longer. Those signs are given to us so that
we will be prepared, and unlike Edgar, we can be ready for that time.

“When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. In those days before the
flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah
entered his boat. People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and
swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man (Jesus) comes. “Two men
will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. Two women will be
grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left. “So, you too, must keep watch!
For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. Understand this: If a homeowner knew

exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be
broken into. You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least
expected. (Matthew 25:37-44)

Like me, you have likely heard the stories about cult members who have packed their bags,
gone to the mountain top to wait for Jesus’ return. Eventually they came down from the
mountain and people ridiculed their actions, of course. Their foolishness caused many to
ridicule the whole idea of the rapture. There will always be skeptics that deny the truth of what
the bible teaches in this regard. However just because someone doesn’t believe it does not mean
it isn’t true. It is a certainty, but only God knows when.

Years ago, there was a series of books and movies, (based on the above scripture) entitled “Left
Behind”, presenting a fictionalized account of what will happen when Jesus comes in the clouds
to bring all those who have accepted His gift of salvation to be taken up to heaven with Him.
Only Christians will know what is happening. It will be invisible to anyone else.

The great disappearance of Christians from the earth is only part one of the great biblical
account of the end of the world as we know it. Those who have been left behind will
experience such evil it defies description, except in the scriptures. The anti-Christ will come to
the forefront and the people left behind will experience hardship and horror such as they have
never known. This is not fiction. The bible recounts the events clearly and God is true to His
word. Those who have studied scripture about these events tell us that there is nothing left in the
events of the world that still needs to happen before the rapture. The stage is set and everything
is in place. The signs of the end times are all around us, if only we have eyes to see.

There is much more in scripture regarding the great events of the end times, but please, take a
lesson from poor Edgar. He was warned, he knew what he should do, but he ignored it all. He
thought he did not need to shelter; those warnings weren’t for him; He would be fine – until he
wasn’t.

The word of God warns us plainly that we should not be like poor Edgar, warned, but not taking
the warnings seriously. The truth is, when we reject God, He allows us to take the negative
results of that rejection. The choices we make in this life do have eternal consequences.
make in life have eternal consequences. 

B. Klassen beatrice.klassen@outlook.com