Be ye also ready

Matthew 24:44

Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

We have all heard the promise of Christ’s coming more times than we could possibly count. We know He is coming! We have heard it said and said again: it has been preached, declared, and promised. But even more than that, it has been promised and declared and proclaimed in Scripture many a time. Christ is coming! And He comes quickly! It is called the promise of His coming. This promise is coming! And it is promised here in Matthew’s Gospel. Now, it is just like anything else. Repetition of something endangers us to forget that thing. We hear it over and over, and eventually become callous and numb to the idea of it. But, my friends, we know it is happening. We don’t know when, for Jesus said that no one knoweth the day nor the hour. All we know is that it is coming one day. We must be ready!

Be ye also ready! Jesus said to us, for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. How will we prepare for such a cataclysmic event? How will be engage in preparation for something that is happening at an indefinite and undisclosed time? The same way we prepare for anything else. We keep everything in order just in case. Now, Christ may not come in my lifetime. But if He does, I want to be at the ready. I would rather be ready and it not happen, than be ill-prepared and it happen unexpectedly. For it will happen in an hour when we think not. So, we must prepare. Are we faithful and wise servants? That is the question. Are we faithfully executing His calling in our lives to give meat in due season to His household? In other words, are we ministering to those in our care and preparing others for His return? Are we faithful and wise?

Blessed is that servant, He says, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing! What will you be doing? If Christ came back today, what would you be in the middle of? If Christ returned by the time you finished the 24 hours of this calendar day, what duties, responsibilities, luxuries, or activities would you be engaged in? Will He be able to make you ruler over His goods in His kingdom? Do we understand that our faithfulness here is directly linked and correlated with our responsibilities in His kingdom? If we have been faithful in a little, He shall entrust us with many things. If we have not been faithful, what could He possibly give us to do? Oh, my friend, be ready! In an hour that you are not aware, everything could change. You know not when your Lord cometh, nor do you know what is two miles ahead on the road. Do not be a procrastinator, and do not wait and delay. Prepare now! Act and live and speak as though He were coming this afternoon! And then you shall not be ashamed before Him at His coming.

“Dear Lord, we are truly grateful for the promise of Your coming. We certainly believe it and eagerly anticipate it. But may we be ready, not engaged in uncomely or unadvisable activities, not giving ourselves to unnecessary frolics; but may we be living as though we would see You later today! And then, and only then, shall the thought of seeing Your beloved face be a thought we cherish and relish. Prepare us now! Let us get ready! And then, may we work and labor and expend our energies toward those things that shall benefit Your Kingdom. And we shall praise You for these things. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”