Eyes to the Sky!

             “Be Prepared” has long been the Boy Scouts’ motto, but today, at the first mention of impending disaster, preparation is the first thing on everyone’s mind.  If you doubt it, just stop at a grocery store immediately after they forecast a major snowfall.  If you are looking for milk and bread, you are probably out of luck!

            As world events grow gloomier by the day, more and more people are becoming “preppers”. Some like my friend just make sure they have extra supplies of the necessities on hand.  Things like canned goods, batteries and of course, toilet paper.  Others are much more extreme, building shelters with food, water, and other supplies sufficient to sustain them for months if not years.

            There’s nothing wrong with being prepared.  If a tornado is predicted, know where you can take shelter, and if there’s time, secure your necessary paperwork and valuables.  If you live in hurricane country, you know how to board up windows and make the necessary precautions.  Those are the prudent things to do.

            My question today is:  how prepared are we for Christ’s return?  We know it’s coming.  Christ told us that He was going to prepare a place for us, “and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14: 3 NIV84).  He also said that only the Father knows the date or time (Acts 1: 7), but the signs are evident that the day is growing closer.  So, why aren’t we prepared?

            Unlike hurricanes and tornadoes, we’ve never experienced Christ returning before, so perhaps we don’t fully understand what that means.  Sadly, it may also be that we don’t fully believe that He will return.  That’s where faith comes in.  God is faithful.  He has fulfilled prophecy after prophecy, and many of those relating to the second coming have also been fulfilled, so if we are true believers and followers of Christ, we can hold fast to the promises He has made.  He will return!

            The question then becomes:  what do we need to do to prepare?

            The last command that Jesus gave us was to take the Gospel to the whole world (Matt. 28: 18 – 20), and He told His disciples that the Gospel would be preached in the whole world and then the end would come (Matt. 24:14).  There are still millions of people who have never heard the Gospel message.  That’s where we start.  We need to pray, send, and go so that the whole world will know Jesus.

            We also need to be bold in our witness and prepared with our testimony.  We should be able to stand with Paul when he said, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans 1: 16 NIV84).  We should also follow Peter’s direction to “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (I Peter 3: 15b NIV84).

            Finally, we need to live in anticipation.  Many people who receive a diagnosis of a terminal illness determine to live each day to the max, knowing that it could be the last.  We each have a terminal illness.  Our lives on this earth are not eternal.  They will come to an end someday, either through death or when Christ returns.  So, we should live each day to the max, pursuing our calling in Christ, and recognizing that each day could be the last. 

            Jesus is coming back!  I don’t know when, but I am confident that it will happen.  So, let’s prepare for that glorious reunion.  Don’t live a life of despair.  Live for eternity.  The signs are all around us, so as Jesus said “look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh (Luke 21: 28b KJV).

Keep your eyes on the sky!  It could be today!

Luke 21: 27 - 28