Understanding the Times
We are approaching the beginning of a new year. In a certain way, the new year will probably be much like the old year. When the calendar turns over from 2024 to 2025, not much really changes at that moment, at least not in our day to day lives. We celebrate a little but then go on doing as we have been doing. Many of us will be asleep when the year changes over. Maybe we’ll make some resolutions.
We don’t know what the new year will hold. But it’s good for us to try to understand the times in which we live and try to figure out what we should do.
1 Chron 12:32 the sons of Issachar … had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, …
Matthew 16:3 …O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?
These two verses give us two ends of the spectrum when it comes to understanding the times in which we live. On the one hand, we have the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times and knew what to do. On the other hand are the hypocrites who cannot discern the signs of the time. Some understand the times; others cannot discern the times.
As Christians, we should strive to understand the times and understand what we should do. We don’t want to be ignorant of the times in which we live, and we don’t want to merely react ignorantly to the events of our times. We should strive to understand our world and try to figure out what we should do in our times.
There are many ways for us to try to understand the times in which we live—media, Internet, news programs, podcasts, experts, etc. We could try to absorb lots of information from many different sources and then try to figure out what it all means.
Or we could simply consult what God has told us in the Bible. The highest authority for understanding our times and knowing what to do is the Bible. We know what to do because God has told us what he is doing and what he expects from us. We have a Christian worldview; we understand our world through biblical lenses.
Let’s consider how we can be like the sons of Issachar who understand the times and know what to do.