A 5.8 magnitude Earthquake strikes Virginia, the biggest since 1897 and is felt across the U.S. east coast.  This is only one of 90 others in a single day causing many in the United States of America to begin to wonder ... what really is going on and what can one expect next ?

A decade or so ago, at a seminar organised entitled Preparing for Christ’s Return -  I recall the introductory remarks of the guest preacher who considered the topic as apt but still unpopular for the time – even as it was not the best attended of meetings. Many found the chosen theme rather dour for a young parish in need of growth. Well things may have since changed. Today there is renewed interest in understanding readiness for what God is preparing our minds for...the End Times. There is a strong sense of something new coming ... something imminent that we have never seen or could ever conceive ...for good or for worse....something the wise need to be prepared for.

The CBN News video by Pat Robertson on Signs of the Times introduces some aspects of eschatology as well as implications. No doubt more will be heard on this topic in the near future as more quakes, unusual weather and other signs are again seen ... perhaps less will be said of Lot’s wife...who?

Luke 17[22]  And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it . [23]  And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them , nor follow them . [24]  For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. [25]  But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation. [26]  And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. [27]  They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. [28]  Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; [29]  But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. [30]  Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. [31]  In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. [32]  Remember Lot's wife. [33]  Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. [34]  I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. [35]  Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. [36]  Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

It is not time, the scriptures say, to follow another guru's date predictions or for excessive examination as the signs do not require scrutiny of a microscope.  It is not also time for self preserving religion or disputes on Bible details.  Instead we learn from the Bible that it is time to look up to God ... our redemption draws nigh ... and heed an unexpected reference to Remember Lot’s wife.  I recently reviewed a book manuscript still much in draft stage “Remember Lot’s wife” by an elderly senior pastor friend, and found this extract quite relevant.

“Remember Lot’s wife x-rays the life of a woman - though not much is revealed of her in scriptures but weighing the statement of Jesus about her, some important deductions could be made.  There were virtues in the family that were godly and by implication credible. The scriptures did not report any thing adverse about her. Beside, her household enjoyed wonderful privileges.  A woman who may have started well but at the end of the day did not finish as well; A woman who it seems did just one thing wrong and was judged without a second chance; A woman who by all standards had the opportunity to have escaped God’s judgment but never did.”

Why are we nudged to remember Lot’s wife at times like this?  It does seem many given, without repentance, several church/ministry spiritual gifts and privileges, who enjoyed kingdom credibility and divine opportunities (like Lot had in the household of Abraham) to end up well would yield to turning back for a brief but fatal glance by the irresistible pull of materialism, intellectualism, entertainment, carnal fun, worldliness, compromise to please men and other steel strings. The master puppeteer, the devil, must now pull the cords he has spent several centuries installing in the minds of men who openly or secretly dined with him.

Remember Lot’s wife implies that when we see the signs we do well to heed a final warning to get right with God NOW - making a clean break with all evil alliances and then be extra-cautious not to look back ... not reducing the standards of God (even in what we consider the slightest more harmless  forms) ... but to be watchful not to sin even in words or thoughts ...cautious of the so called more respectable sins – anger, greed, strivings, unforgiveness, bitterness, hard-heartedness, pride, self righteousness, envy etc ... shunning media, literature, images that pollute the spirit with traces of darkness ... remembering that Christ on the Cross paid in full for confessed sins and broke ( in His crucifixion – as our old man was crucified with Him) the grip of sin in our lives enabling us to live right in Him ... turning away from the  doctrinal deception that we will never know holiness  but will ever oscillate in a cycle of misdeeds and pleading forgiveness ... fleeing even appearances of evil ... and always looking up to Jesus - finding life even as His Spirit helps us.

As we pray for mercy to abate disasters... indeed the gospel must be preached all over the world but these final warnings are not meant just for the heathen to receive Christ but more so plead to the weary saint to wake from slumber and not risk losing the inheritance for vanity.