Tilt
A news story on the radio caught my attention the other day. It seems that a NASA scientist has determined that the earthquake in Chile recently caused the earth to shift on its axis and it actually shortened the day length by 1.26 microseconds. And the report went on to say that this is not the first time this has happened. The 9.1 earthquake in 2004 that spawned the deadly tsunami also changed the earth's rotation and shortened the day length by 6.8 microseconds. What? (Okay first of all I didn't know that there was an instrument that could measure microseconds. Why didn't they use that thing during the Olympics? 'Cause I would like to know exactly how fast the US four man bobsled team was really going.)
Of course the earth moving on its axis is not the big story resulting from these and the Haiti earthquakes. The great loss of life and the mass destruction has been the thing on our hearts and minds. When you add to the news of these devastating events the worst winter on record (I was born in the middle of the last century and I never remember a winter when there was snow on the ground in 49 of our 50 states at the same time) one's mind might begin to wonder. Add to this the recent movie based on the doomsday prediction of the Mayan calendar that the world will come to an end on December 21, 2012 and your mind might begin to race. Are all these events leading up to something even more cataclysmic? Perhaps something of biblical proportions?
Well, let's think about that for a few moments. In the 24th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament Jesus speaks about signs of the end times. In verses 6-8 He says, "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains." Then is verse 26 Jesus says, "No one knows about that day or hour, [not even the Mayan's or Nostradamus] not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
Jesus said these things were the beginning of the "birth pains." Birth pains come on a woman who is carrying a baby. She knows she is pregnant and that the baby will come soon, but she doesn't know exactly when. We should also know that time is pregnant and that the end is closer today than it has ever been, perhaps even coming soon. That means Jesus will soon return and God will make a new heaven and a new earth and the old ones will pass away. But as Jesus said no one knows just when that time will be. Only the father in heaven knows the exact time.
So, should we tremble in fear and start building underground cities or modern arks and begin storing up food and seeds for the future? Well, I do know that we need to be ready, but that is not the way. If the earth is destroyed then everything on the surface and under the surface will be destroyed as well. The only way to be truly prepared is through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ through whom all that we know was created in the first place. He is the One who is in control of time and eternity, but you are the only one who can determine your eternal destiny. Will you choose to spend eternity with God and rest assured today or are you going to spend your days worried about a date on some ancient calendar?
The earth shook and its tilt was changed and the rotation shortened. Was this a foreshowing of worse things to come? I think it was more of a reminder at how small we are and how our lives can change in an instant. It is also a reminder that we need to be ready to enter eternity now and not wait until December 20th, 2012. Are you ready to change your tilt?
I was just thinking. What are you thinking?