Let’s spend our days growing closer to Him, building up our churches, evangelizing the lost, and getting the gospel to the nations. Our mission is to make disciples.

It seems that every few years there’s a new best-selling Christian book that creatively fits the latest news headlines into Scripture, specifically the book of Revelation. These authors find hints and clues throughout Scripture that fit together in a way that tells us that Christ is coming at a specified time. Although none of these books have proven true, we can’t stop buying them thinking the next one might be real.

Does God intend for us to spend so much time and energy trying to guess the Second Coming? Would knowing such things be edifying and beneficial, or merely a distraction to our spiritual growth and our mission?

Not For You to Know

After Jesus’s resurrection, he gathered with his disciples before his ascension. “They asked him, ‘Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth’” (Acts 1:6–8).

We can understand the disciples’ curiosity about God’s plan because we also wonder when Christ will return. However, rather than satisfying their curiosity, Jesus redirects them to keep focused on the mission. I wonder if he would tell us the same thing: “It’s not for you to know the times or seasons, but receive the power of the Holy Spirit and be my witnesses to the ends of the earth.”

Could it be that some believers are so distracted trying to figure out when Christ will return that they have lost sight of actually following his teachings? After all, Jesus told us “concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only” (Matt. 24:36). It seems the repeated teaching of Scripture focuses on growing closer to Christ every day and fulfilling our mission to glorify him and share him with others, yet many itching ears want to hear something more sensational.

Be Prepared

Someone may argue that Jesus told us to be prepared: “Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming” (Matt. 24:42). So, if we are to “stay awake,” shouldn’t we be on the lookout for signs of his coming?

We certainly need to stay awake and be prepared, but this doesn’t imply trying to guess when he might return. Being prepared means walking closely with the Lord each day, using each minute and talent for his glory and the good of our neighbor. If we are spending all our time and energy treating the Bible like a book of hidden clues that connect to the latest news cycle, then perhaps we miss the main message of Scripture and aren’t really obeying.

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