by Eric Rank
A few weeks ago I had the tremendous privilege of witnessing the birth of my son. It barely scratches the surface to say that it was an amazing experience. As much as my wife and I prepared ahead of time for that fateful day to happen, we were caught a little off-guard. After spending perhaps just a bit too much time laboring at home, my wife nearly gave birth in the car on the way to the hospital. Fortunately, we managed to arrive in time in the care of expert hands, but only with a few minutes to spare.
With such a sudden event, I was reminded about the similarities and parallels between child birth and the coming Kingdom of God. Just as my wife and I know that the Kingdom is coming in the future, we knew nine months ahead of time that the birth of our son was coming. We didn’t know the exact moment to expect it–if we had known, we would have been in the car a bit earlier. This reminds me of what the Bible tells us about the timing of the end. Even though I cannot know the exact time of Christ’s coming, the Bible instructs me to be prepared. By knowing, watching, learning and living as righteously as possible, I can be sure that I won’t be caught off guard when the Kingdom comes.
