GOD WOULD RATHER YOU GO NEXT DOOR
God has never been impressed with curiosity that replaces compassion. He is not flattered when we trade obedience for endless speculation, when our minds are full of charts and timelines but our hands are empty of mercy. Daniel’s visions mattered; they were given for a purpose and for a people in a moment of pressure. Yet even Daniel himself was told that some things were sealed, not because God was hiding truth, but because faithfulness was not meant to stall while curiosity ran wild (Daniel 12:9). The danger is not reading prophecy; it is using it as an excuse to remain still.
Jesus made this plain when He summarized the will of God without mystery or puzzle. Love God fully; love your neighbor honestly (Matthew 22:37-39). He did not add footnotes about deciphering beasts or calculating dates. When the final judgment scene is described, the questions are painfully ordinary. Did you feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, visit the forgotten (Matthew 25:35-36)? No one is asked how accurate their end-times system was. They are asked what they did with the people placed in front of them.
Your immigrant neighbors are not a distraction from God’s work; they are the work. Teaching someone English, helping them navigate a new land, listening to their story, honoring their dignity—these are holy acts. The Word of God does not float above daily life; it takes on flesh within it. James reminds us that faith which never moves the hands or opens the door is a faith that has stalled out, impressive in language but empty in practice (James 2:17).
Prophecy was never meant to shrink our hearts or narrow our concern. It was meant to anchor hope and steady obedience. If studying Daniel and Ezekiel and Revelation makes you less patient, less generous, less present with suffering people, something has gone wrong. The Kingdom of God does not advance through speculation but through quiet acts of love done in His name. God is far more pleased when His children cross the street than when they merely connect the dots.
So yes, read the Bible. Treasure the Scriptures. But do not hide behind them. God would rather see you at a kitchen table with a neighbor than lost in endless theories about tomorrow. The future is in His hands. The neighbor is in yours.
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Lord Jesus, turn my attention from curiosity that distracts to love that obeys. Teach me to see the people around me as assignments, not interruptions. Help me to live the Word of God with open hands and an open heart, for Your glory and their good. Amen.
BDD
