(Gum-boots is the Australian name for knee-high, waterproof boots.)
We have a little barometer that keeps on saying rain is coming but the rain does not come. We are still inside a huge drought and the barometer is telling us what we badly want to hear and we consult it frequently to keep our hopes alive. Perhaps it will rain today.
But the barometer is telling us a lie, it is saying smooth things we like to hear and the truth is something quite different.
Over time, we have become quite sarcastic towards it and now we say, ‘so where is the promised rain? It has not come today and it is not coming tomorrow. Where is the promise?’
Jesus also made a promise that he would come again and the world would end. The disciples wisely asked him what barometer to watch because they wanted advice they could trust. They did not want a lie or false security, they wanted to know what the real deal was.
Jesus told them. He gave them a run down of all that would happen in the years to come and them told them the one thing it was important to know. He said, ‘this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed to the whole world as evidence to the nations. And then the end will come.’ A little further on he added, ‘they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven.’ Matthew 24:14,30.
The scoffers of his barometer are still scoffing. ‘What has happened to the promise of his coming,’ they scoff as Peter said they would, 2nd Peter 3:3,4. And I still ask my little barometer, ‘so where is the rain you promise?’
This morning I thought I heard thunder but when I came out to investigate the only thing I found was that our brave little barometer seemed to have taken leave of its senses. It was sending out all sorts of funny signals to get my attention. One signal looked like a pair of gum-boots and I read the inscription. It said, ‘You must be ready because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’ Matthew 24:44.
The promise may come before the day is over so I pulled my gum-boots on. Will you put yours on now, too?
By Just a Minute team writer Elizabeth Price.
You can contact Elizabeth direct at mailto:reprice@dragnet.com.au