Being Ready

“Watch therefore, …”
 

   … for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming … therefore you also be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect … Watch …”

   Matthew 24 and 25 contains Jesus’ sober warning of our need to be watchful and ready for His return. “To watch” the root means “to rouse”, having “mindfulness of threatening danger which, with conscience earnestness and an alert mind, keep one from all drowsiness and all slackening in the energy of faith and conduct”  (S. Zodhiates Word Study). We’re to refrain from sleep, to be ready, prepared, ever mindful, and fit for Christ’s return.

   I have been mindful of that command these past few weeks as I wait for Matt to call when Erin goes into labor. Being on standby is not easy. Waiting expectantly, I find I need to prepare on 2 fronts. I have a family to care for here, and I must be in the travel mode with my bags packed, food and vehicle ready. My mind is on high alert. It’s hard to sleep when you’re ever watchful. If the call comes at night I will have to wait till daylight. I can’t maneuver in the dark. Will they have help till I arrive?  Then I wonder if I will have time to finish what I start each day. I wonder, will I then be late to the birth and of no help? “God, can I just rest and not sweat it?” These questions make me ponder my attitude to His coming. Am I excited about His return or just busy with my work? 

   God has the time and plan for all things and I remember His perfect care of us as we went to Uganda. The lessons are deep and weighty for me. Do I perfectly trust His way and can I totally rest in His timetable? Am I doing all I can to be productive with the work and schedule He has charted for me each day? Am I living with the view that He is coming at any time, as my granddaughter will? Am I ready for His call? Have I done all here that I can possibly do, so my family and others in my life are also prepared? There’s a balance in productive work and readiness and resting in His plan and time.  But primarily, am I looking forward to Christ’s return with joyful abandon?  Am I too busy to be excited?

   Jesus’ words to be watchful and ready are in the context of the parables of the various servants who have talents to put to use, the virgins who wait for the bridegroom, the signs of the end times and judgment, and the persecution of the faithful. The words of Matthew 24:12-14 are piercing. “Lawlessness will abound and the love of many will go cold, but he who ‘endures’ to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

   How’s my Love, and where is it focused? I am convicted. (To endure – to remain under, to sustain a load of miseries, adversities, persecutions, provocations in faith and patience.)  I may not have a load that is heavy today, but I have a family of believers all around the world who do. As our brothers and sisters suffer, God asks us to come along side of them to aid and encourage them. “Remember those in bonds as if bound with them and those who suffer adversity –since you yourself are in the body also.” Hebrew 13:3.  Who, and how much am I loving? Am I loving God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and My neighbor as myself? Luke 10:27.

   Being watchful and ready includes considering the needs of those around me, being a witness to all nations, making sure they have been given the Good News of our Blessed Hope, Jesus. I need to care for others with the loving care that God has given to me. I need to watch and not be slack in my energy of faith and conduct.  I should be looking forward to His “call” - that trumpet ring! I’m EXCITED!

   Are you Ready?