Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. (Matthew 25:13 ESV)
Fear Not… Then Be Ready
Cell phones have ruined the joy of waiting. In the good old days, travelers would tell us, “we will arrive some time in the afternoon!” And we would prepare.
We would set up the guest room. We would prepare a post-travel snack. We would clear our schedule. And we would wait. Perhaps from 12:01 pm until 6:00 pm. Some time in the afternoon could be nearly ANY time! And it was exciting to wait!
But a big part of the excitement, was the preparation.
We needed to be ready. Not merely at a particular time, but our preparation involved a wide window of options. We were not simply ready at an exact moment, such as modern cell phones provide… but we were ready more generally. We were ready more broadly. We were ready for a much longer period of time.
Jesus’ words here make many folk think of the End Times. But His comments were broader than that. He was referring to each of our ends. He was referring to each of our entrance into His marriage celebration. He was referring to each of our entrance finally, fully, and fanatically into His Kingdom.
Yes, that might be in some sort of End Time event. But it also could be your personal end. It also could be your personal time of upheaval when you encounter or re-encounter the Savior.
And those things could happen any time. In fact, they happen a lot.
Be ready. Not because you are expecting an encounter at a particular time. But because you know that an encounter IS coming. You ARE about to encounter Jesus again soon. Whether in crisis, or the crisis of death, or the ultimate death of sin’s world at the end of time… He is coming soon.
Being ready combats fear.
Being ready makes fear unnecessary.
Being ready makes fear insignificant.
Fear not, then be ready.