Preparation

In Matthew 16:2-3, Jesus cited the weather as a reminder that we can look at the sky and anticipate the coming day’s forecast. Yet he noted that many people fail to take as much notice of the times as it relates to their spiritual condition.

What about your “readiness” status? One Senior Adult Sunday School teacher shared that for a while they had a sign in their class that said from Age 75 to Heaven. She said people didn’t want to come to that class. So they took down the sign.

Too often, we resist thinking about the future. At the same time, we have the need to urgently prepare ourselves and others for the future that certainly is coming. We must recognize the difference between temporary and eternal. Setting our aims on only the temporary concerns of life will leave us unprepared for the eternity that lies ahead. On the other hand, to prepare ourselves daily for an eternity with our Lord, is to have both the resources and the relationship that will enable an abundant life now and forever.

Psalm 32:10 reminds us that “the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him.” Psalm 62:10 says “…though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them.” The recent weeks of storms in the Gulf and fires in California and floods in many places should remind us of that reality. All the things we might attach ourselves to are temporary, but in trusting God, we find our source of eternal provision.

Preparation is needed by everyone who would comprehend the times. It is time to “prepare the way of the Lord.” It is time to be in anticipation of what God is doing and will do in our time. By faith, we can respond to the revealed love of God made known through Jesus Christ. By faith, we can receive forgiveness of our sins, and as we turn from our sins, and turn to our Savior, we will find life’s provisions for every day. We will then “be prepared.”

Let us join the Psalmist as he thought about the brevity of life in this world, who prayed to the Lord: “So teach us to number our days that we may gain a wise heart.” (Psalm 90:12). It is time to prepare!