Marks on the Skin

We are called to look beyond ourselves and really examine the times in which we live - I believe that we are living in an age spoken of by Biblical prophets, and it's important that we are aware of that
and living in a state of preparation for the return of our Lord. Romans 13 says:
10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.

Anticipation - expectation.  The Bible reminds us of the promise of His coming, and the day He returns for His Church could be any day.  So, there is a sense of urgency with which we can live. As we walk in love for others, it sends a strong message about the love of Christ - each of us has the capacity to be used to communicate that truth that Jesus has come, He died and rose again, and He wants to draw people into a relationship with Himself.

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Today is Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent, a 40-day period, excluding Sundays, which ends on Easter Sunday, which will be commemorated on March 27 this year.  There is a religious tradition of placing ashes on foreheads as an act of humility.

As the 'Splainer at the Religion News Service website says:

Clergy all over the world dispense ashes, usually made by burning the palm fronds distributed on last year’s Palm Sunday, making the sign of the cross on the bowed foreheads before them. As they “impose” or “dispense” the ashes, the pastor or priest reminds each Christian of Genesis 3:19: “For dust you are and to dust you shall return.”

Some will attend special church services today, but RNS points out that: "Many churches, ministries and clergy offer 'ashes to go,' which can range from dispensing ashes on subway and train platforms, on street corners and other urban crossroads. Some enterprising Christians even offer ashes in a drive-thru."

Speaking of placing symbols on the skin, perhaps you've heard about a new technological development that can track certain information.

First, to God's Word, Revelation chapter 13.  We read about the reign of the Antichrist and a "beast"
who would terrorize the earth:
15 He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads,
17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.

According to the CBSNewYork website, Software company Chaotic Moon has developed a “tech tattoo” that gets embedded into a person’s arm and can track a person’s financial and medical information.   Eric Schneider, the company’s hardware creative technologist, explained the tattoo can monitor if a person is about to get sick. He also said that people would be able to carry their financial information through this tattoo. He is quoted as saying: “We carry wallets around and they are so vulnerable. With the tech tattoo you can carry all your information on your skin and when you want your credit card information or your ID, you can pull that up automatically through the system."

The tattoos are made with “electro conductive ink” that contain various sensors, and in some cases tiny microchips. The makers say they will last for up to a year.

There is a definite trend that you can read about on the Internet dealing with tracking various elements of our lives.  A CBN.com story from 2014 featured some quotes from Katherine Albrecht, who has examined the potential threat of RFID, or Radio Frequency Identification.

She said, "We're using radio frequency to identify things and transmit information all the time nowadays," adding, "I think what is coming next, though, is what the marketers and developers of this technology call the 'Internet of Things.' This idea is that every physical object would have its own equivalent of an IP address encoded into the microchip."

The article points out that beyond the privacy concerns, Albrecht said RFID technology carries biblical implications.  She is quoted as saying, "There will be a time when humanity will be forced to take a mark, and that mark will be on the right hand or the forehead," referring to Revelation 13:16-18. "It is the number 666; we're told to pay attention and look out for that, and people who do not take that mark, of course, will not be able to buy or sell."

"Some people say RFID will be the mark of the beast because it can be a mark in your hand that you can transmit," Albrecht added.  She went on to say, "If it isn't, and it may well not be; there may well be something that comes next beyond that to become, to fulfill that biblical prophecy, but every one of those steps was getting us closer to that end destination."

Good point.  Because Bible prophecy has been fulfilled through the coming of Jesus to earth, we can rely that what has been foretold by the prophets in the Bible will certainly come to pass.  When you consider the alignment of nations and world events that are consistent with what God's Word says will come to pass, then we can expect that the return of Christ is coming soon.  And, the technological advances continue to pave the way for the operation of a one-world government in the not-too-distant future.

So, in light of the signs that we observe, how are we to live?  I believe that we can have an expectancy about the return of our Lord, first to claim His church, then, following a time of tribulation on the earth, for us to return to earth with Him to establish His kingdom and authority. The question for every human being is: are you ready for that day?  Are you prepared by having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ?   

We are entering a season in which people may be thinking more deeply about spiritual matters.  We are entering into Lent today, and in just a few weeks, we will observe Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  It is a perfect time to reflect on the state of our relationship with God, and make sure that we are walking with Him, that we belong to Jesus.