2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 - Chicken Little

2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 "Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come." (NASB)

When I was a young child I remember the story of Chicken Little. The main character was a young chicken who was walking in the forest one day and felt an acorn fall on her head. The little chicken jumped to the conclusion that the sky was falling and proceeded to frantically gather up a contingent of other creatures to journey to the king's palace and tell him of the impending disaster.

After some time they came upon a fox who saw the opportunity for a large meal standing right before him in the form of Chicken Little and his friends. The fox, using a polite manner and mellow tone in his voice, convinced the group that he knew a shortcut to the king's palace which coincidentally led straight to the fox's den.

The story ends when the king's hunting dogs flush the fox from his den, and Chicken Little and his friends were saved.

This particular story came to mind when I read the above scripture because there are some interesting observations to be made between the story above and the myriad of theories and predictions of the Lord's Second Coming that I've heard in recent years.

The Word of God says rather bluntly in Mark, "No one knows, however, when that day or hour will come - neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son; only the Father knows. Be on watch, be alert, for you do not know when the time will come." (Mark 13:32-33 (TEV)) There are still those who manage to creatively come up with a way to "prove" that the Lord will come on such-and-such-a-day. So far, these prognosticators are batting 0%, but they still keep coming, and people still keep paying to read the latest version.

I've decided my approach to all of this is to steer the course. Stay in the Word of God........continue my dialogue of prayer with Him......listen to my heart........in short, stay ready.

That's the main message Brother Paul is trying to convey.................yes, the Lord *will* be coming again.......we can be sure of that. But anything beyond that is pure speculation.

Love in Jesus,

Jim

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"But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired." (1 Corinthians 12:18 NASB)

"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Copyright 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission."

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This devotional was originally posted on CCI-Devo - Daily Group Devotionals on January 15, 2004 in post #451. It was written by Jim Ross, a former United Pentecostal Church member, who attends Christian Challenge International, the sponsor of the devotional group. The devotional is the copyright of Jim Ross and is reprinted on this site by permission.

Page added April 14, 2006

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