10K, 25K or Will Jesus Ever Return?

We must run the good race with all diligence and not lose heart. All the parables in Matthew that refer to the end of the age and the return of the Son of Man have one thing in common. The return of the master, the coming of the Bridegroom and the thief, all tarry. It is after the master had been gone a very long time that the servant he had put in charge said to himself, 'My master isn't ever going to return,' and he began beating his fellow servants, etc. All 10 virgins began to fall asleep, and after the wicked slave buried his talent (life) the Word says, "After the master had been gone a long time..." And since day after day nothing every happened to merrit it anymore, the homeowner stopped locking his door. He probably said to himself, 'No thief ever comes and probably never will.' Locking the house and being prepared for such an event was unnecessary. Lulled with eating and drinking or celebrating a new marriage, etc., the homeowner doesn't think twice about checking the door before going to bed, or (as is the practice in our household) doesn't lock the door behind himself upon entering the house.

It's not a very popular position to hold about the truth of the return of the Son of Man but it is most likely all the exhortation given to the church to remain alert and be on guard is because the day and the hour of His return is much later than any of us bible believers have dared to imagine. But think about it. Laying aside all the indoctrination of what can and cannot be, laying aside all fear or insecurity, isn't it possible all the warnings and parables we are given about the last days and the end of the age and the return of the Son of Man are because things are not going to play out as neatly and easily and swiftly as our hunan natures have conjured up?

Needless to say, I am running this race as one who has trained for a great marathon, not knowing if I will see the finish line at the end of 10K or 25K. I am running the good race, fighting the good fight as if I am to endure the greatest of all tribulations before meeting Him in the air upon His return to separate the sheep from the goats. I don't want to fall short of enduring to the end because I trained for a 10K race only to quit because the finish line is not crossed at that point in time.

He who endures to the end shall be saved.