Mark 13  Jesus talks about the day when He will come again, when everything will be changed forever.  That day will be preceded by "tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation.."  We cannot begin to imagine...
Worse than the holocaust.
Worse than the World Wars.
Worse than the terrorist attacks.
Even worse than the epic disasters that movie makers can imagine. :)

But, Jesus tells us:

".. do not be frightened.." v7
".. be on your guard.."  v9
" be on the alert"  v 33, 34,35, 37
" But take heed; behold I have told you everything in advance." v23

He will come "with great power and glory"!
He will send His angels to "gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth, to the farthest end of heaven." v27

We don't know when that day will be, but we know that He expects us to be ready and waiting for Him.  He exhorts us to "endure to the end" ( v13) so that we might be saved.

As bad as this world sometimes seems, I don't think we have seen a tribulation like Jesus is describing here.  We hope that the rapture of the church will happen before it gets this bad...
Yet, even if that happens, we need to turn our attention away from the non-essential things of this world - to the only things that really count - " And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations."  We need to know the True Christ, so that we are not led astray by those who will come claiming to be Him.  And, we need to be alert, on our guard, and ready. 

Father, I know that You know all things and You know the needs of our hearts .  You know that we get distracted by foolish things.. entertainment, people, money, etc.  You have told us that we need to lay it all down, pick up our crosses and follow You.  Help us.. help me.. to do that more faithfully.
May we seek Your Kingdom and Your righteousness and lay everything else down at Your feet.
We ask this in the Name of our Coming King, Jesus Christ, Amen.