“If therefore you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you.”

-Revelation 3:3

You can be doctrinally sound and faithful in the church, prayer, and Bible study. You can have a zeal for good works and the salvation of the lost and yet be oblivious to what is happening around you in relation to prophecy yet to be fulfilled. It is as if one is lulled to sleep by what is consuming his present life. The Jews were such when the Lord rebuked them by saying, “You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time?” They should have known by the prophetic word and what was happening around them that the Messiah had come. J. C. Ryle writes:

It becomes the servants of God, in every age, to observe public events of their own day, and to compare them with the predictions of unfilled prophecy. There is nothing commendable in an ignorant indifference to contemporary history. The true Christian should rather watch the career of governments and nations with a jealous watchfulness, and hail with gladness the slightest indication of the day of the Lord being at hand.

In the Bible, we find much unfulfilled prophecy, and all around us there is much going on that may be related to that prophecy. So, wake up! Know both prophecy and what is happening in this world. And be excited that we are getting closer to the coming of Christ. Be encouraged!

Scripture References: Revelation 3:3; Luke 12: 56, J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on The Gospels - Luke, Volume II