Pointless Signs

On a recent road trip we encountered this very odd road sign. Upon closer inspection we discovered that the retaining screw or bolt was missing from the upper part of the post and thus the sign was in reality upside down.

However, this sign's message got me thinking about so many "Christians" in our culture today. They are all following what they believe to be the "signs of the times." Jesus Himself said of the generations that would follow His sojourn on earth, "they will seek for a sign but none will be given them." (Matt. 12:39, 16:4, Mark 8:12, Luke 11:29). I am fearful that the church is following the wrong "sign" and is way off course because of it.

I still believe in the imminent return of Jesus Christ - however, I am also mindful that Jesus also warned against "setting dates and looking at signs" Instead of all the rhetoric about the Rapture, why are we not busy following the instruction of the Master in the completion of His mission?

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." . (Mt 24:14). The word translated "nations" here is "ethnos" from which we get our word "ethnic". This is not likely referencing the 195 Nations of the world, especially since there is a Gospel witness of one form or another in all of them currently. Plus, nations as we know them today did not exist in Jesus' day. If this refers to "people or language" groups then we still have some work to do before Christ returns for there are over 4,000 of these and we have reached roughly 40% of them.

Signs? We need to quick looking for signs and listening for "sounds" and get on with the Mission of Jesus, what we call the GREAT Commission.