Ready, Set…??

I felt the first drop splatter against my face and knew we were in trouble.

My son, daughter and I were tenting in the mountains and shouldn’t have felt anything, but that’s what happens when your tent is water repellant instead of water resistant. Our ponchos failed too. They were the cheap type and soon leaked then ripped. We also discovered waterproof boots aren’t necessarily so. Wet clothes and sixty degrees Fahrenheit are poor bedfellows. Misery followed us two miles the next morning before we found help. I was an inexperienced backpacker and unprepared for inclimate weather.

I sometimes face the prospect of Jesus’ return in a similar manner. Though the Bible speaks of its certainty and the need to be ready, the event often migrates to the furthest recesses of my mind.  

Jesus knew my predicament before I was a thought in my parent’s mind. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.(Matthew 24:12-13)

If I don’t stoke the fire and make an effort at faithfulness, my love and preparation for Jesus’ return burns cold. I get careless with my lifestyle imagining I’ll die before he comes so it won’t matter anyway. Then I read the but he who stands firm to the end will be saved section and I get a little nervous. Maybe the now part does have a bearing on the after he comes part after all.

Preparing for Jesus’ return is wise for the present and future.