Readiness

Therefore, you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Matthew 24:44

by guest contributor, Todd Hansen

I was reflecting, just yesterday, on a car crash that I saw happen a few years ago.  While waiting at a stop sign, I watched a car come around the curve leading to that intersection, expecting it to come to the opposite side where we would pass.  Instead, the driver accelerated, missed the curve and jumped the curb, and drove straight into a tree.  It was so startling that I had to turn to my son in the passenger seat and ask, “Did that just happen?”  It was so unexpected and surreal that I wasn’t sure that I was accurately interpreting the event. Do you see my point?  One millisecond I was thinking about driving home, the next I was watching someone make a grievous mistake and suffer the consequences.  All in the blink of an eye (see 1 Cor 15:50-58).

I think that it’s by the grace of God that the driver of that car hit a tree instead of us.  I would not have had time to react if she had – but that doesn’t alter the wisdom of driving in such a way as to minimize risk and be aware of your situation, ready for the possibility of things going wrong in an instant.

Here is the point I think Jesus is trying to make:  live our lives, day by day, moment by moment, in such a way that we are not in the midst of sinning when the trumpet sounds.  Better yet, I want to live in such a way that I am praying, trusting, worshiping at that moment – living in a state of such connection and openness to my Father that when the Son appears, the next thing that happens will be an extension of what I was already doing.

DO THIS TODAY: Focus on worshipping God through prayer.