“Now when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be—let the reader understand—then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Whoever is on the housetop must not go down, nor go in to get anything out of his house. And whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. But woe to those women who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing babies in those days!”
Some things in life demand urgency. When we see the beginning of a forest fire, we know to get away quickly. When we see a massive wound, we know we need the ER. These are not moments we can think slowly about what to do but we must act swiftly. When Jesus described the end times, his teachings held a consistent theme of urgency. Here, Jesus used the Jewish imagery of fleeing to the mountains. While we read this as a “retreat” from an enemy, fleeing to the mountains was a sign to the Jewish people that they would be in God’s presence; they were running toward where He is and seeking to be with Him.
The apostle Peter echoed this sense of urgency when he wrote in 1 Peter 4:7-8: “The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.”
Regardless of how far away or how soon the end times actually are, our call as Christ followers has not changed. We are to have a sense of urgency to go to God in all things and be consistent in our love for others. We are to hold fast to Christ and let go of the things of the world.
- Does the call to follow Christ feel urgent to you? Why or why not? What are you prone to give more attention to instead?
- What would it look like to live with urgency in your faith? How would that be different from how you live now?
- Pray and ask God to give you urgency in your desire to follow Him.
