Across the country homes are displaying pictures of rainbows, usually but not always drawn by children. These are generally accompanied by messages. These messages warn us to stay at home in order to keep ourselves and others safe, offer us hope for a way forward, and give special thanks to keyworkers – notably the heroes in the NHS. These colourful displays are a joyful sight.

The Bible tells about the first rainbow after the cataclysmic flood of Noah’s time.  Noah and his family were isolated in the ark for a full year. In this way they were saved and avoided the mass destruction in the world. After the flood was over God put the rainbow in the sky as a sign that:

 “never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth”

Genesis 9:8-17; verse 11

The flood was a disaster for everyone except Noah’s family. He had tried to warn them of impending doom, but they ignored him and just carried on as normal (2 Peter 2:5, Matthew 24:37-39).

Jesus told us that he would come back to the earth, but he warned that people would not be ready for him. He would come like a thief.

….if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Matthew 24:43-44

In fact he compared this with the days of Noah:

“But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be”

Matthew 24:37

People would be taken by surprise, absorbed by their daily lives of eating, drinking and family business.

We had warnings about the Coronavirus. Despite this, few of us were adequately prepared either physically or emotionally for the way things have happened. We were largely taken by surprise. We hate to see the suffering and death. And we are immensely grateful to those trying to save lives, risking their own lives in the process.

Two thousand years ago Jesus died a cruel death specifically so that we could be saved and offered everlasting life. An amazing hope for the future! Are we truly grateful for this? He asks us to believe, to watch and to prepare for his return.

“Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is”

Mark 13:33

They were not ready in Noah’s day. We were not ready for the virus. Let us try to make sure that we are ready for Jesus.

Image by cm_dasilva from Pixabay