Be Ready
Opening Prayer
My God, may I always be ready to learn what You want me to, but not wanting more than You offer.
Read MATTHEW 24:32-44
[32] “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. [33] Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. [34] I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. [35] Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. [36] “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. [37] As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. [38] For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; [39] and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. [40] Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. [41] Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. [42] “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. [43] But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. [44] So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
Reflect
What does Jesus say about the date of his return?There was a popular movement in the Church in the 1970s of trying to predict the time of Jesus’ second coming. Jesus indicates that there are signs of the end, but the exact date is not for people to know (36).
There are, in fact, historical similarities with signs in the time of Noah (37), when the flood came because the world was so violent and corrupt. The twentieth century will go down as the most violent of all. Violence has become such a part of the world order that even children have been deliberately desensitized, so that they play the most horrific and lifelike violent video games.
God promised not to wipe out the world again with a flood; he did not promise, however, to stay out of human affairs, as the incarnation clearly shows! Jesus is coming again ― just as suddenly as did the flood in Noah’s day. As in that day, people will go about their everyday activities with a rosy view of the future (37-39). When the flood came, only Noah and his family were ready; everyone else perished. Jesus will come as suddenly; we need to be ready, too.
Apply
What does it mean to you to live in the light of Jesus’ return? What do you need to do to be ready?
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, I’m glad that You will return someday to put things right in the world. Help me to always be ready.
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