A few early mornings ago, I was asleep; like every other person in the house. Well, not every person. It was about 3:40 in the morning. Ear-piercing screams began to rattle through my door. I jolt awake and realize it is my little sisters screaming their heads off. The first thought in my mind was that someone had broken in and was terrorizing my sisters.
I rushed out of my room, ready to fight whatever demented person had wandered in. Then, I see three little girls come rushing out of one of their bedrooms. They were panicking and screaming. In my sleepy stupor, I found it odd that they were dressed in their Sunday dresses. The youngest girl also had eyeliner on. Between the screams and repeated words of “We’re dead we’re dead we're dead…..” and “WE’RE GOING TO DIE!”, I caught that there was flooding going on in one of the bathrooms.
Sure enough, one of the sinks was lying on the ground, completely detached from the wall. Water was squirting and spraying everywhere like a banged up artery. To make matters worse, the basement was flooding. The basement ceiling tiles were scattered everywhere.
Well, if you’re going to make a mess that early in the morning, might as well go big or go home. (Or, er, go somewhere else because we were already at home!)
The girls also described how none of them could get back to sleep. So, they decided to get ready for school…at 3:00 in the morning. Which is why they were up playing dress up at unholy hours of the morning.
I am not sure I have ever experienced such craziness early in the morning.
This brings me to the point of this article. Life is about the unexpected. As prepared as we think we are (or convince ourselves we are) life happens. There are many things in life that we can’t control. (Such as little munchkins getting up early and making a mess.)
The biggest thing we can’t control is God. He lives outside our realm of understanding and human ideas. He knows everything that is going to happen, and when. He knows when we are going to do this or that. He knows when we will die.
Moreover, He knows the day the world will end.
God says that day will come as a “thief in the night”. (1 Thess. 5:2) When it comes to being prepared, His return is the one thing we CAN be ready for. It takes faith. It also takes submission. It is to allow God to rule every single part of your life. When Jesus finally comes back, be honest with yourself. Will you be ready? Can you be confident that when you stand before God you are filled with Him? Overflowing with Him?
We can never do enough to earn our salvation. However, we accept His grace by obeying Him, and allowing Him to rule our lives. When we truly want God in our life, it will show. It will show because we will sin less. We will sin less because we want more of God than we do of ourselves. We will want to know what God wants from us, so we study His word hungrily. We will love others. Speak more kindly to them. We will be more willing to help others than to walk by them without a second glance. We will declare God’s name. We will boast of God’s great love.
There is a Great Day coming. A day when the Church and those who aren’t in the Church will be separated. A day that is full of sorrow and terror. There is a day coming that is glad and joyful. There is a day coming that those who deny God will be humbled. There is a day coming that those who love Him and are looking for Him will want to run and embrace their Savior. There will be relief. There will be pain. There will be the Lost, and there will be the saved. There is no in-between.
Don't be taken unaware by His return. Repent, put on the Lord in baptism, and live for Him from this day forward. Things like flooding in your home can take you by surprise. Don't let Jesus' return take you by surprise.
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