Editor's note: Enjoy today's devotion from Holy Cow! End Times Prophecy Just Got Real by Chichi Onyekanne, Tracy Onyekanne, Annaly Mawire, and Jason McKay
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KEY VERSE
But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. — 1 Thessalonians 5:4–6 NKJV
Prophecy Isn’t Meant to Scare You
Imagine sitting in a coffee shop with friends when someone casually drops the questions: “Do you think we’re living in the last days? Do you believe that Jesus is coming back soon?”
You begin to wonder: Is this supposed to make me afraid? Am I supposed to stockpile canned goods and move to a bunker? Or is there something I might be missing? How confident are you in the end times conversation? When you think about it, what stirs up in your heart? God gave us the dominos in scripture for us to be children of light.
Here’s what we want you to know from the very beginning:
prophecy doesn’t exist to scare you. It exists to prepare you.
That single truth is the heartbeat behind Holy Cow! End Times Prophecy Just Got Real. Because here’s the thing, God gave us prophetic intelligence through His Word not to send us into panic, but so we would not be deceived. So we would be ready and alert of the seasons we’re in.
You Are Sons and Daughters of Light
When Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica, he told believers of Christ something stunning. That the return of the Lord will come like a thief in the night to those living in darkness. But you, he said, are not in darkness.
You are sons of light. Daughters of the day.
That’s not a poetic compliment, it’s a prophetic assignment. Paul was saying that spiritual awareness of God’s unfolding timeline isn’t reserved for scholars or prophecy experts. It belongs to every believer who stays alert, stays sober, and stays in the Word.
Scholars note that in verse 1, Paul intentionally used two Greek words for time: chronos and kairos. Chronos refers to ordinary, linear time, days ticking by on a calendar. Kairos refers to something else entirely: divinely appointed moments, specific seasons when God moves according to His sovereign purposes. Paul was telling the church: you already know how to read both. You’ve been equipped. You don’t need a new prophetic word to know what season you’re in. You need to be awake enough to see it.
Can you imagine if a close friend knew something completely life-altering was about to happen and chose to leave you in the dark? We’d call that a bad friend. How gracious, then, is our Father, who has not left us uninformed but has written out the signs, the seasons, and the sequence in advance, and then invited us into the conversation.
When Ancient Prophecy Walks Off the Page
In December 2021, the authors of Holy Cow! found themselves on a cattle ranch in Texas filming Israeli rabbis inspecting red Angus calves. The scene was surreal. Cameras rolling, cold air biting, ancient expectations pressing into the present.
The rabbis were searching for a red heifer. A perfectly unblemished, never-yoked red cow commanded in Numbers 19 as the key to Jewish ritual purification. Without its ashes, priests cannot be consecrated. Without consecrated priests, Temple worship cannot be restored. And the prophetic chain described across Daniel, Matthew 24, and Revelation hinges on that Temple existing.
For the first time in nearly two millennia, the conditions are aligning. The Jewish people have the land. The Temple Institute has the priestly garments, the instruments, and trained Levites ready. A location on the Mount of Olives has been secured. And a practice sacrifice took place in Israel in July 2025—sending the internet into a frenzy and signaling that the process isn’t “someday” anymore. It’s now.
This is what it looks like when kairos moments arrive. This is why Paul told us to watch.
Prepared, Not Paralyzed
Not with fear. Not with frantic speculation. Not obsessive date-setting or predictions. But clarity. Sobriety. A deepened urgency to carry the gospel, to love people well, and to live as those who know the hour.
Paul echoed this same call in Romans 13:11–12:
It is high time to awake out of sleep: for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
Children of light don’t sleep through the signs. They study them. They share them. They live differently because of them.
You were born in this generation on purpose. God trusted you to be the Church in this hour. With your questions, your platform, your relationships, your neighborhood and so much more. To live faithfully in this exact moment of history. The signs aren’t meant to terrify you into retreat. They’re meant to mobilize you into mission. We journey from victory, not for it. The end of the story is already written, and Jesus wins.
Prayer
Lord, thank You that You have not left us in the dark. You are a God who reveals, who warns, and who prepares. You have given us everything we need to recognize the season we’re living in. Forgive us for the times we’ve let fear or confusion make us passive. Wake us up. Make us sober, alert, and full of faith. Let the signs of this hour produce not anxiety in us, but urgency. The urgency to love boldly, to share freely, and to live as children of the light You’ve called us to be. We are Yours. Use us in this moment. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Questions for Reflection or Discussion
- Paul says believers are “sons of light” who shouldn’t be caught off guard by the signs of the times. Honestly, how awake and alert would you say you are right now? Spiritually, prophetically, in terms of knowing what God’s Word says about the season we’re in?
- Has your relationship with end-times topics been shaped more by fear or by faith? What would it look like to approach biblical prophecy as preparation rather than a source of anxiety?
- If you genuinely believed the season of Christ’s return was near, what is one specific thing you would do differently this week in how you love the people around you?
Watch the Video
Adapted with permission from Holy Cow! End Times Prophecy Just Got Real by Chichi Onyekanne, Tracy Onyekanne, Annaly Mawire, and Jason McKay, copyright Chichi Onyekanne, Tracy Onyekanne, Annaly Mawire, and Jason McKay.
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Your Turn
Do you think about the end times often? Is it scary to you or something you look forward to and give you a sense of urgency to witness to those around you? No matter what, the Lord is with you so don’t be afraid! ~ Devotionals Daily