Sleeping With One Eye Open
Did you know that dolphins sleep with one eye open? It’s true.
They do so because they can only ever let one side of their brain sleep at a time. When the left side of the brain sleeps, the right eye will close, and vice versa. This isn’t some weird, ambidextrous stunt they’re pulling. Rather, it’s because they must always remain partially conscious to remind themselves to breathe.
You see, dolphins, unlike most sea creatures, are not fish. They are mammals. As such, they need to surface regularly to take in air. And for dolphins, breathing is not automatic or reflexive the way it is for humans. “In other words,” say the experts at us.whales.org, “dolphins have to actively decide when to breathe, … [They] alternate which half of the brain is sleeping periodically so that they can get the rest they need without ever losing consciousness.”
If a dolphin were ever to go into deep, full-brain, total unconscious sleep, they would simply suffocate or drown.
Likewise, believers can't afford to be lulled to sleep by the world but must remain alert, always ready for the Lord's return.
"But you aren’t in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won’t be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief. For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night. So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded. Night is the time when people sleep and drinkers get drunk. But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation" (1Thessalonians 5:4-8, NLT).
You'll Know It When You See It
Growing up in suburban New Jersey, I can remember when my dad took the family to New York City for the first time. He told us that we would pass through a huge tunnel under the Hudson River called “The Lincoln Tunnel”. I was so excited. I couldn’t wait to see this great tunnel. I imagined going deep underground with the river above our heads. Would it be dark? How long is it? How will I know when we get there?
As we approached the helix on route 3, there was a series of large overpasses we passed under. I asked, “Dad, was THAT the Lincoln Tunnel?” His reply, of course, was no. Then another overpass came and I asked, “Is THAT it?!”. He replied, “Jeffrey, you will know it when you see it.” In other words, if I had to ask, then that couldn’t possibly be it.
Naturally, as we spiraled down the helix into the toll booths I marveled at those 3 great looming archways leading into darkness. It was very clear to me then: THIS was the Lincoln Tunnel!
I am relating this story to those who think (or fear) that we have entered into the Tribulation, which is described in the Bible (namely Matthew chapter 24, and the books of Daniel and Revelation). My answer is the same as my Dad’s was regarding the Lincoln Tunnel: “No. You will know it when you see it.”
This coronavirus pandemic is merely an overpass. It is NOTHING compared to what is to come. But I believe it is a sign that we are nearly there. We are approaching the Helix. And the blessed hope we are expecting from 1Corinthians 15:51-58 and 1Thessalonians 4:13-18 is close at hand.
I believe God is using this pandemic to get the world’s attention. I also believe that all believers in Christ will escape the Tribulation to come - in the same way that Noah and his family escaped the Flood, by their faith. Put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. Accept HIS plan for your salvation, not your own good works, and you will be delivered from the coming judgment.
"For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever" (1Thessalonians 4:16–17, NLT).
"For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood" (Romans 3:25, NLT).
The Doomsday Clock
There are some things in life that you didn't know you needed to be concerned about. For instance, as I did some online research for the sermon this Sunday, I found out that there is an official "Doomsday Clock" which is set by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. Who knew? In January of 2018, they moved the clock from 2 1/2 minutes to midnight to just 2 minutes away from midnight. Midnight symbolically stands for the end of the world . . . of course.
The furthest it has ever been away from midnight is 17 minutes, after the Cold War ended. And the closest it has ever been . . . are you ready for this . . . is right now - 2 minutes to Midnight. What this means is that they think we as humans are closer to destroying ourselves in some apocalyptic event brought on by nuclear war and global climate change than we have ever been before. Well, technically, they thought we were this close back in 1953, as well, when both Russia and the U.S. were racing for nuclear weapon advancement.
By the way, it is not just scientists who think the world is going to come to a catastrophic end. God tells us, through Peter's pen that "the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
"Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!" (2 Peter 3:10-12, ESV).
But there is a major difference between the outlook of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists and the Bible. Though the world will indeed come to a catastrophic end in both views, the facts of future judgment are coupled with hope in the Scriptures. This is seen in Peter's conclusion, where we read, "But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells" (2 Peter 3:13, ESV).
Every day we draw closer, not to the end of the world but to a glorious new beginning!