Why are we so complacent? I read a true and disturbing story from a generation ago that illustrates this point: The ocean liner, the Californian, was within 1500 miles of Boston Harbour when a crewmember noticed flashes of light from a distant steamer ship. Repeated attempts to contact it failed. In fact, it appeared to be sailing away. By 1:40am its lights had vanished… It wasn’t until later that the captain learned what had actually happened. Neither he nor his second officer considered the flashing lights alarming, or that it was coincidental that they had ever seen them. Earlier the Californian had parked because of oceanic ice and the unscheduled stop gave her a ringside seat to an unimaginable event. The crew didn’t realise the flares were distress signals or they would have come to her aid because they were only nine miles away. The floundering ship also sent radio distress calls that were easily within answering range except for one important detail: the Californian’s radio operator, fresh out of training school, was fast asleep! And so on April 12th, 1912, from his vantage point on the bridge, the second officer on the Californian unwittingly watched the Titanic sink!
Jesus said, ‘People were eating… drinking… [and] marrying… to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing… until the flood came and took them. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man… keep watch [therefore, because]… you do not know… [on] what day your Lord will come’. (cf. Matthew 24:38-42)
Source: The UCB Word For Today devotional 14/3/2008