Are You Prepared?

Chuckle: An insurance man was teaching his daughter to drive. Suddenly the brakes failed. “I can’t stop,” she wailed. “What should I do?” “Don’t panic,” her father told her. “Just hit something cheap!”

Great Quote: “If you think you can walk in holiness without keeping up perpetual fellowship with Christ, you have made a great mistake. If you would be holy, you must live close to Jesus.” --Charles Haddon Spurgeon

"So be prepared, because you do not know what day your Lord is coming. . . You must be ready all the time. For the Son of Man will come when least expected" (Matthew 24:42, 44 NLT).

How would you change your life if you knew Jesus would return tomorrow? This is an all important question for each of us. In our passage, Jesus tells us that His coming will be both unpredictable and unexpected; therefore, we should be prepared to meet Him at all times. The promise that Jesus will return to earth came from the lips of Jesus Himself.

This precious promise gives all Christians great joy and comfort from knowing our Lord will return to claim His church (all believers) and usher in the events leading to our spending eternity in His presence in a place the Bible calls heaven. The following quotation sheds additional light on this glorious event.

The New Testament writers speak of Christ's returning, "soon" or "quickly," with the apparent expectation that he might return in the writer’s own lifetime. However the meaning of returning "soon" is that it would happen "at any moment." It is like my phone answering machine. The message informs the caller that I am away from my desk but will return "soon." I use the same message whether I expect to be gone two minutes or two weeks -- for the very simple reason that I want to encourage the person without revealing exactly how long I will be gone! --Illustrations for Biblical Preaching; Edited by Michael P. Green

Yes, Christ's return for His own will be both sudden and swift. When it happens, the opportunity to prepare for His return will have passed. Our preparations should be made now while there is still time. First, we should repent of our sins and ask Jesus Christ to come into our lives as Savior and Lord. Then we should live each day in such a way that we welcome His coming with excitement and anticipation. I heard someone say that we should never do anything for which we would be ashamed if Jesus came while we were doing it.

The apostle Paul wrote, "Remember, the Lord is coming soon" (Philippians 4:5b NLT). Jesus said, "See, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me, to repay all according their deeds" (Revelation 22:12 NLT). When He comes, our ultimate joy will be fully realized. He who gave himself for us, and whose Spirit lives within, us will have kept His promise and fulfilled His final purpose for us.

Love, Jerry & Dotse