2012: A Time to Panic?

Nope. But it is time to plan. No one knows what the future holds (except God, of course) and 2012 is no exception.

Wake-up calls in the form of earthquakes, tsunamis and weather events have sounded around the globe. Sabre-rattling in the Middle East, economic woes throughout Europe and the debt crisis in the U.S. are becoming deafening.

But are we heeding the alarm, or hitting the snooze button? Unfortunately, the majority of us choose to snooze. Why? It's human nature.

Most of us are victims of something called the normalcy bias, a tendency to believe tomorrow will be like today, and next year will be similar to last year. Clearly, that isn't always the case. And as we close in on that time the Bible refers to as the "beginning of sorrows" (Matthew 24:8), the importance of preparation will become increasingly obvious.

So what do we do?

Prioritize.

"What profit is there if you gain the world but lose your soul in the process (Matthew 16:26)?

The first step is to take our spiritual temperature. Are we hot, cold or lukewarm? Jesus said in Revelation 3:15, "I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, I will vomit you out of my mouth."

Uh oh.

How would you characterize your spiritual walk? Hot, eager for the things of God? Do you study the Word daily, spend time in prayer, actively serve God? Or are you a stone-cold unbeliever, an atheist, with no desire for a relationship with Jesus?

In between the hot believer and the cold atheist is the worst of the worst: the person who is neither hot nor cold, but a tepid lukewarm. God finds a lukewarm "Christian" sickening. In very vivid language, Jesus rejects the halfhearted, self-serving, ungrateful "Christian", willing to squeak into heaven as if through fire (1Corinthians 3:12-15). The Bible instructs us to examine ourselves (2Corinthians 13:5) to be sure we are really in the faith.

The time to settle these issues is now. Don't wait for the alarm to sound again. By then it could be too late.

Words to the Wise: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." - Benjamin Franklin

News:

• Former IAEA inspector: Iran "one year from" bomb material
• Senior government source says Israeli Mossad carried out "hit" on Iranian nuclear scientist
• Doomsday clock moves one minute closer to midnight--"inadequate progress" on nuclear and climate issues
• Microsoft workers in China threaten mass suicides over pay dispute