To Encourage You

Matthew 24:43-44 “But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

Are you living a life of readiness, i.e., readiness to meet the Lord?  In the verses above Jesus is warning us that it is very likely that we will meet Him when we are least expecting it.  Shockingly, He compares Himself to a thief, and the moment that we will meet Him He compares to the breaking and entering of a thief into a house. 

Quite a few years ago my parents were doing work in the field on the hill above their house. It was during the day.  To their surprise and dismay, when they returned to their house they found a window was ajar. Then when they entered they saw that someone had broken into their home and left with some of their valuables.  That was the last thing they thought they’d be dealing with that day.  What an unsettling warning it is, therefore, to think that we will meet Jesus someday in a similar surprising way. 

In the Scriptures above, Jesus is talking specifically about His second coming.  It’s surely going to happen, but none of us know when. If anyone tries to tell you that they know (and many have claimed this), they are lying, for they don’t know any better than you or I do.  But how many of us know the day of our death any better?  It could happen today.  How many traffic accidents happen expectantly?  How many have gone to their deaths in this way in the full knowledge that that day would be the day they would meet God.  Yet, the Lord is telling us that there is a day coming when we will meet Him.  And He has told us this so that we would be living a life of readiness. 

I remember talking to a friend many years ago about the gospel. He told me that He just wasn’t ready yet to become a Christian. He understood the gospel, mind you, but in his mind, he just wasn’t ready. Sadly, this friend died suddenly of a heart attack at a relatively young age.  I’ve wondered over the years if he had ever gotten ready.  But if you’re reading this, it is at this very moment that you can get prepared. 

Jesus has said He is coming, and if that is true (and it surely is), wouldn’t the wise thing be to get ready.   Sooner or later we will meet Him.  Are you ready to meet the Lord?