On the trail system above our home, new trail signs have been placed on the entrances to each trail.  In the last few years, the old signs had become worn, some of them unreadable. The trail names haven’t changed. The new signs were put in place to make sure people knew where they were hiking.  On occasion, I’ve met people who were hiking the trails who didn’t read the signs and got lost. 

The Lord is reminding the Church about the signs of the times in which we live. He is prophesying new signs, not changing their message, but with a new clarity, reminding people of what trail of life they are walking upon. 

These reminders will look like the new signs recently installed on the trails above our home. They will appear new in the starkness of their refreshed message. Those refreshed signs will catch a passerby’s attention.

Those refreshed signs have a purpose for the Church; they will remind and guard us on our journey of faith. Paul wrote, “But you aren’t in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won’t be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief.  For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night. So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded” (I Thessalonians 5: 4-6).

To remain spiritually alert and clearheaded, we must correctly interpret the signs of the times. The message of these signs does not change with a new generation. They remain true over time but may need to be prophetically refreshed from time to time so that their message can be easily read and understood for each new generation.