The Last Days

2 Timothy 3:1-9 lists many signs of the last days:

--lovers of themselves

--lovers of money

--boastful

--proud

--abusive

--disobedient to their parents

--ungrateful

--unholy

These are just what's listed in verse 2--Paul continues on for another five verses of similar behaviors.

Everyone since Adam and Eve has been convinced that the generation following them is more evil and depraved, indeed the worst in the history of the world. I'll leave it to God to make the final determination as to the most evil generation, but everything listed in these verses is not only occurring today, but has been happening since the beginning of time. The degree of our depravity may differ, but we're all shallow and worthless.

As such, if these are the signs of the last days, then I suggest we all live lives prepared for the imminent return of Christ. There is no sane reader of these verses that can't conclude that every single event that Paul lists is occurring in this world in abundance, which suggests that our preparations need to be up-to-date. There is no time to wait, to delay or procrastinate, and we need to be bold in our witness to others, because if these are the signs, the "birth pains" as described in Matthew 24, there is no time to waste.

If you didn't already know or couldn't tell by the placement, Paul's second letter to Timothy was written near the end of his life as he was being held in prison. Given that Nero had imprisoned him, Paul was pretty sure that he wasn't going to make it out of prison, and he ended up being correct. One of the last verses that Paul wrote was 2 Timothy 4:7:

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 

In these last days, these are words that we should all endeavor to live up to. Whether we do won't be for us to judge or determine, but we can do all we can to attempt to live a life that shows that we tried.

Scott