마태복음(Mat) 24장
23.03.25
4. 예수께서 대답하여 가라사대 너희가 사람의 미혹을 받지 않도록 주의하라
4. Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.
5. 많은 사람이 내 이름으로 와서 이르되 나는 그리스도라 하여 많은 사람을 미혹케 하리라
5. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.
6. 난리와 난리 소문을 듣겠으나 너희는 삼가 두려워 말라 이런 일이 있어야 하되 끝은 아직 아니니라
6. 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.
7. 민족이 민족을, 나라가 나라를 대적하여 일어나겠고 처처에 기근과 지진이 있으리니
7. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
8. 이 모든 것이 재난의 시작이니라
8. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
13. 그러나 끝까지 견디는 자는 구원을 얻으리라
13. but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
14. 이 천국 복음이 모든 민족에게 증거되기 위하여 온 세상에 전파되리니 그제야 끝이 오리라
14. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
When I had a baby for the first time, I had been waiting for the day of his or her birth eagerly, but there was no sign at all until 10 days passed. I started to worry as my mother-in-law visited me to care for my baby for a month and then she would return back home.
Luckily, 15 days later, in the afternoon when we were going to have lunch , I felt the birth pain all of a sudden. So I called my husband and taxied to the hospital with a bag, feeling blood shedding under my skirt. And then it took some hours, having difficulty in giving birth to him as he stopped breathing for a couple of minutes before he came out.
This is a long story and the reason I remimd of this old memory is that Jesus was taking about birth pains. And these days I feel the same, but different kinds of pains in my heart. On hearing of the world issues on a daily basis, it makes me think of the day of Jesus coiming more often than before.
The end would surely come, regardless of me or people waiting for or not, or wanting it or not. No one knows the day for sure, but what I should do is doing my routines, standing firm in faith and enduring any persecutions, betrayal, and hatreds. Moreover, by preaching the gospel and loving my neighbors, I should make a living today. I checked my last day with 3ps I had thought of, praying, preaching and practicing, and it worked at least one day and I will use it again and again in order to measure my spiritual and faithful life.
