Hope On The Horizon

Ah, football camps open throughout the land. The drought of 2012 continues, but there is hope when we see the wealthy modern-day gladiators arrive to begin work at their respective coliseums. Once upon a time, athletes and stage performers got by on little or nothing, some even performed as slaves. Today, those same trades can be among the most well-paid in the world. Those of you laboring to clean facilities as janitors, or keeping house with no pay, or working the farms as hired hands, you too have hope for the future. One day, the all-star janitor c. 2412 may command an absurd salary for doing what he or she loves to do. Nah, you're right, probably not. Somehow the gladiators, thespians, and minstrels took over the land, some even serving in public office as presidents and congress persons. Floor swabbers and stall muckers are still pretty much the same. Without the government mandated minimum wage, the wealthy would still keep them as slaves.

This is no idle speculation. In Revelation, we learn about the coming of the ultimate celebrity. A man so celebrated by the world that he will be given a crown. The world system will once more trade in slaves, not in the shadows as it is now, but out in the open. The citizens of this nation-state system will no doubt be very wealthy. Times for those who believe in Jesus will be terribly difficult, but... there will be hope on the horizon. Signs will appear and the time of the great persecution will be short. Some will die in the tribulation, but many will endure to see the arrival of Christ with His heavenly host. All our small tribulations lead to the same place: Christ arriving with healing in His wings. We may not get to see our Lord in person when coming out of a time of personal tribulation, but we know that His healing is here for us now. Does that mean that all cancer and other disease will be healed in this lifetime like some of the television folks say? No, I think that like the tribulation saints in Revelation, our horizon may open on a new land and to the sight of Jesus coming to greet us.

Bucky