Pause: Getting Ready for His Coming

Photo courtesy of Katie LeBlanc

Our brother *Francis*, whom we haven't seen in two and a half years, is coming for a visit in the beginning of August. There has been a lot of preparation going on; indeed, the thought seems to have had a mobilizing power upon everyone here. We want everything to be as nice as possible for him.

Z. has cleaned the book room more in the past few weeks than she ever has in the rest of the two years we've been here. Dad is building what he terms a "simple bed"--it's not simple by any means--for Francis so he doesn't have to sleep on the sneeze-inducing couch. Dad was working on it quite a bit to begin with, but since he found out the day Francis is coming, he has been even busier. Mom is helping wherever she can. And I have realized that I need to overcome some bad habits before the end of July.

The hustle and bustle for my brother's coming made me think of something else, something we all should be preparing for. Whether we like it or not, our Creator and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, is coming soon. The signs are all around us--natural disasters, increasing moral degeneration, and so on. Prophecy is rapidly being fulfilled. Soon, all the evil and suffering will be no more. All will be peace and rest and indescribable glory. Don't you want to experience that?

Jesus wants you to. He wants "all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4). He wants all of us to be ready for His return! The only way we will not be, then, is if we refuse to let Him make us fit for the heavenly home. He is more willing to save us than we are to let Him, but He lets us decide our destiny. In light of God's love for you, and the times in which we are living, ask Him to forgive you for wasting so much time with sin; ask Him to come into your heart and change it completely, so that you will be ready to meet Him when He comes again. Read the Bible prayerfully, so that you can know the way to heaven. He will not turn you away. If we do our part, we may be sure that He will do His. He says, "For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee" (Isaiah 41:13). "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye" (Psalm 32:8).

What do you say? Won't you get ready for His coming?

Blessings,
Jean