Devotion

The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times

Mark 13:1-8

The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times

13 As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”

2 “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; everyone will be thrown down.”

3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?”

5 Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

I was really wondering what to make of this Bible verse that we are focusing on this week. The first thing that came to me was what should we be doing in our lives to live the best way we can.

Many of you would know that I love to travel (pre-Covid times).

Thailand is a place I have many fond memories of…The land of smiles as it is affectionately known as.

Many years ago, my wife and I rented a condo in a beach town called Jomtien, which was about 130km south of Bangkok.

Generally, I found there were two types of Thai people. Most of them were wonderful, friendly, and always wanted to help. They live their lives giving and they do this in such a friendly way with huge smiles. The guard on the gate at the condo was always saluting and smiling at us and trying to give us his best impression of speaking English.

This made me think of the way we should go about our day here at Golden Grove and in the wider community. A smile can sometimes be enough to cheer someone up or give someone a boost. It apparently takes fewer muscles to smile than frown, so give it more of a go. God wants us to enjoy what we do and show it.

So today I challenge you to smile more. Let’s make it contagious and hopefully it will spread. Just remember that Thai people have a lot less than most of us, yet constantly smile and show happiness.

Tim Kriewaldt

Deputy Principal