Would You Be Ready?

Yesterday morning, my daughter Kaitlyn turned off her alarm clock, stretched her arms widely and let out a big yawn, before getting up in her dark room to go take a shower. Little did she know, that her alarm had gone off an hour late. She thought she had an over an hour to get ready to leave, but in actuality, she only had a few minutes.

I awoke when I heard the shower running, ran upstairs, threw open the bathroom door and frantically asked her if she knew what time it was. Confusion washed over her expression. "It's 5:55am!", I bellowed. The blood drained from her dripping, wet face and I saw pure panic set in.

You see, her cheerleading squad was leaving for a four day camp which was a three hour drive away. We were supposed to be at school no later than 6:15am,  and if anyone was late, they would risk being left behind.

Wild toiletry throwing, zipping of suitcases, and craziness quickly set in. We plugged in two hair dryers, with her drying one side of her hair while I used the other one to dry the back, hoping to help speed up the process. This worked great, until a fuse blew. But by some sheer miracle, we managed to get her to school just in the nick of time.

Later that morning, I got on the road with my mom and other daughter, and headed out for a few quiet days at the beach.  After three hours of driving, laughing, and listening to beach music, we finally arrived to the condo. We quickly unloaded all of our luggage, changed into our swimsuits, and hopped back into the car for the one mile trip to the shore.

A one mile trip, which should have taken less than five minutes, but instead, took over an hour and five minutes.

We sat in a sea of cars on the highway, all paralyzed in motion due to the accident scene ahead. Traffic was stopped in both directions, and the left side of the highway had been shut down completely.

A motorcycle had collided with a jeep at an intersection. As we crept forward in the slow moving traffic, I ended up sitting directly beside the accident scene for about five minutes. Our eyes surveyed the flashing red and blue lights, firetrucks, policemen wandering around, emergency crews, draped sheets across the mangled car, yellow tape, a motorcycle laying on its side in the middle of road, and pieces of  metal and glass scattered everywhere.

We knew it was bad, and my heart sunk. I felt the urge to pray for the people involved.  Then my mom spoke up and said, "someones life just changed tremendously". And that was true. We learned later on the evening news that someone had lost their life in that accident. Their life, and many other lives, were changed that day.

The driver of that motorcycle probably thought he had plenty of time to get where he was going. Plenty of time to enjoy life. Plenty of time to start prioritizing the important things. Plenty of time to make amends with enemies and tell their family how much they loved them.

Upon awaking that morning, they thought they had plenty of time to get ready to leave this world, but in actuality, they only had a few minutes.

I cannot help but wonder - was he or she ready to leave this world? Were they secure in where they would spend their eternal life? Did they meet Jesus yesterday in all His glory, or did they face their worst nightmare.

1 Corinthians 15:52 says "...in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed."  (NIV)

This particular verse references the last trumpet of when Christs returns, including the resurrection of the saints and His return to earth. However, until that divinely appointed time, Christ will still come for us in His timing - in the twinkling of an eye.

We may think we have plenty of time, but maybe we do not have much as time as we think. Only Christ knows how many seconds we each have left to live, and in my heart, I want to know that I am ready.

His Word also instructs us to help others get prepared. To care about the reality of whether or not the people we know, work with, socialize with, go to church with, are ready.

The weekend is upon us, and we all probably have a lot planned.  However, I want to encourage you to pause this weekend, and make sure you would be ready to meet Jesus, if He came for you today. 

Think about your friends, family, co-workers, neighbors - are they ready? Could God be calling you to help prepare them to meet Him, when that time comes, in the twinkling of an eye?

Luke 12:37 says this, "Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them."  (KJV)

When we are ready - having accepted Jesus as our personal Savior - we not only are assured that we are prepared for His coming, whether it be for us individually or during the second coming, but this verse also tells us that those who are prepared, are blessed.

Lets make it a focus this weekend to prepare for when we meet Jesus, and be bold in our desire to help others be prepared as well.  Nothing is more important than being ready.

Nobody wants to be left behind, and nobody has to be.

If you are not sure you are ready, or you know a friend who needs to know Jesus, click here for more encouragement.