Watching the Fig Tree Guest post by Linda Yezek

Whenever I read how the scientific community explains the plagues against Egypt described in Exodus, I have to giggle. They have a logical explanation of how each plague happened through nature, through natural process, then they reach the conclusion that because the plagues happened naturally, there is nothing miraculous about them. There is no God. The ancients just created a god to explain what they couldn’t through their limited knowledge.

In other words, the scientists jump to the wrong conclusion. They just don’t get it.

Whether or not it’s true that the plagues were natural phenomena, I don’t know. But even if it were true, it would prove there is a God, not the other way around. The God who created all has all of creation at his disposal for his use.

Of the multitude of lessons one could learn from this episode in history, the top of the list is that God uses his creation for his purpose–which is usually to get our attention. This truth is why we should pay attention to the changing weather patterns, the increase in earthquakes, fires, and hurricanes, the beaching of whales and dolphins, and the host of other oddities, caused by both nature and governments, that seem to be galloping toward us like an angry Quarter Horse.

Christians are required to watch, to recognize the signs of the times we’re in. “Learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near–at the doors” (Mt 24:32-33). Because we don’t know when he’s coming back, we’re required to watch and to be prepared, with our “oil lamps” full. He tells us in his word what to watch for.

The Pharisees and Sadducees of his era were supposed to be watching for him. Those who made a career of studying the Scriptures should have recognized him and received him joyously. Instead, they asked for a sign. Remember what he said?

“When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red;’ and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times” (Mt 16:2-3).

It’s time to watch. Time to pay attention to the signs. Time to refill your oil lamp. Perhaps what we’re seeing today is just “the beginning of sorrows,” or perhaps it’s the escalation of “birth pains,” but because we don’t know the day or the hour, we must remain in a state of preparedness.

Are you ready?

~~~~~

Linda wrote this post for us as part of her first anniversary promotional campaign and giveaway for her novel, Give the Lady a Ride. In this contemporary western romance, the main character, Patricia Talbert, is a Christian who needs to return to her first love. Linda cleverly arranges for the reunion to occur on the back of a bull. Although the story is fiction, the fact that God welcomes all his prodigal children home with open arms isn’t.

To learn the rules of her giveaway, visit 777 Peppermint Place, then come back and leave a comment to be eligible for the drawing.

Linda’s Blog

http://amzn.to/xTNs4N

Giveaway Link:

http://bit.ly/yp85eN

Linda Yezak lives with her husband and three cats in a forest in Texas, where tall tales abound and exaggeration is an art form. She is a two-time finalist in ACFW’s Genesis Contest, in 2008 for Give the Lady a Ride, a contemporary western comedy romance, published in 2011, and in 2010 for The Cat Lady’s Secret, a Women’s Fiction comedy-drama. She has been published in Christian Romance, Beyondaries, and Vibrant Nation e-zines, has served as a judge in several national and local writing contests, and is currently a freelance editor and a consulting editor for Port Yonder Press.