Jeanne and I have been busy the past few weeks getting ready for our vacation. We have been scheduling our lodging, contacting people we plan to see, getting the car ready to go, even baking our favorite family cookie recipe to take along for kids and grand kids. We are going on a trip, but not without a lot of preparation.
This entire process brought to mind a very important spiritual parallel. The Bible clearly teaches that faithful believers in Jesus are also getting ready for a journey. Jesus told His disciples just before His crucifixion that He was going away but that He would return to take them to be with Him in the Father's house. When Paul wrote to the the Christians in Thessalonica, he spelled out details of how that would take place. With a shout and the sound of the trumpet of God, those believers who were prepared would be caught up into the air to meet the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
Many people do not believe this doctrine. Others poke fun at those who take this teaching literally and at face value. The Bible also teaches that this scepticism will be so. However, all of the New Testament writers believed that there would be return of the Lord Jesus for His followers and that they needed to be living lives that reflected this expectation. Jesus Himself gave very explicit instruction on how to be ready for this gathering away in His instructions to the churches recorded in Revelation 2 and 3.
To be ready to travel with Jesus to the place He has prepared, a person first of all needs to have put his trust in Jesus as his personal Savior. From that point on, the Holy Spirit will be working to guide and direct the believer to be waiting in readiness for that great event. Just as it takes time and effort to be ready to leave on vacation, so it takes work to be ready to meet the Lord Jesus. The Bible refers to Jesus as the Bridegroom and believers as His Bride. A question that is good to ask yourself is, "If the Bridegroom comes today, will He see in me who He is looking for as His Bride?"
Jesus Himself spoke of this event and gave two words of instruction: be watching and be ready. "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. . . .So you must also be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him" (Matthew 24:42, 44). Are you ready to travel?
Magnificent
MAGNIFICENT! If you can take five minutes for a moving experience of worship focused on God's magnificent creation, click on the photo. You will be glad you did.
