Can you hear the ringing?
Bells are signals to mark something. Sometimes they mark time like the ringing of ship's bells. When I was a child in grade school a bell used to ring to tell us to come back in from recess. Another thing bells do is bring a warning such as the Church bells that rang during the American Revolution to announce "The British are coming."
A news article I read just a few days ago said that the earth is "still ringing like a bell" from the Tsunami last December 26th. I thought that was really interesting. It seems that scientists say that every point on the earth shook and was disturbed that day and at some level there is still reverberating. If that bell is still ringing, can we still hear it?
In speaking of the end of the age, Jesus said; "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." (Matthew 24:7-8) Certainly the earthquake that caused this tsunami was an enormous sorrow, killing over 176,000 people but affecting millions more. Was it one of the beginning sorrows? Is there more to come? If we are close to Christ's Second Coming (which I believe we are), the answer is yes.
It is important that we are alert and acting wisely. "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." (Matthew 24:44) Let's be prepared. We may not know exactly when he is coming back but we are smart if we read the signs all around us - or, listen to the ringing bells.