A
daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and
exhortation.
Wednesday,
September 1,
2021
For many
years we have passed this structure along Grandview Road
as we return to Mount Joy from Lebanon. Twenty years ago
Brooksyne walked past it daily when she took her walks
when we lived on the other side of town. It is often
accessorized with attractive wreaths and always has a tidy
appearance. Yesterday we met the owner and learned the
rest of the story. He bought this "retired" outhouse to be
used as a bus shelter for his children though in the end
it wasn't used for that, as I recall!
"You
Also Must Be Ready"
Message summary: Certainly one of the greatest blessings of life is being ready when our time comes to depart from this life or when the Lord returns.
Listen to this message on your audio player.
“So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him” (Matthew 24:44).
Hurricane Ida has been in the news for several
days now, with severe consequences along the Gulf Coast.
Today it's come our way with lots of rain and even
flooding projected. Thankfully in nearly 20 years of
living in our present home we've had no flooding in our
house although we do have a low area of our lawn near
the road that floods. The extent of our Ida preparations
was stopping to get milk last night after we picked
Ester up from work at Fuddruckers but we know that is
not the case for millions living in vulnerable flooding
zones.
Hurricanes are interesting in that for days
leading up to them predictions can be made detailing the
time they will land and how severe they will be. Unlike other
natural disasters such as earthquakes and tornadoes people can
usually prepare. When we lived in New England in the
90's they really took their storm prep very seriously.
They cleared out the grocery stores and hunkered down to
survive as if they will be homebound for weeks.
They say it goes back to a devastating New England hurricane in 1938 and
the Blizzard of '78. At the projection
of a hurricane or blizzard all sorts of activities,
schools and businesses are canceled. I was kind of
excited about having one since as a Midwesterner I had
never been through a real hurricane, which at the time
Ester called a "horicane". However, in the 7½ years we
lived in that area we never had one severe enough to
adversely affect those inland (aside from wind damage).
The truth is we’re always in a state of getting ready for something in every season of life, whether it’s attending kindergarten the first day, our first piano recital, entering high school, our first job, getting engaged and married or having our first baby or first grandchild. And then those latter years when one has to sell their house and valuables to move into a retirement home. We finally face life’s greatest event and one requiring ultimate preparation, our transition to the other side.
Jesus
stressed getting ready, the kind of getting ready that
supersedes all those important things that are present
only for a limited time. Unambiguously Jesus declared to
His disciples in His long teaching on the Mount of
Olives, "You also must be ready". He’s
speaking of His promised return to earth; a future event
which devout believers hold dear. Whether it's
preparation for our imminent death or Christ's return
many mock and scoff at the mention of the vital
necessity of being ready. Sadly in my observation, even
in much of the visible church it is too often
under-proclaimed.
Most just put if off and ignore it. In fact Jesus Himself likened His returning to the days of Noah. People went about their business unaware of their impending doom. Perhaps the economy was strong and people were living well. They reasoned, “Who needs to listen to that crazy preacher building a boat? Similar to the days of Solomon, “A man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry” (Ecclesiastes 8:15).
But Jesus said, "You also must be ready". And He went on to state, "because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him". In some cases we expect an imminent death such as the end stages of a deadly disease but most of the time we just don't know. So we have a very forthright warning from Jesus Himself that we are to be ready for His return. However regarding the specific date or time we do not know, even though all throughout the church age many have attempted to forecast that date, but as you know they've been wrong every time!
So the focus is not so much on the unannounced date, as it is on living in a state of preparedness for our death or the Lord’s return, whichever comes first. We won’t have time to get ready at the trumpet sound, so we must be ready before that great and glorious moment when Jesus appears in the clouds. Through Scripture we have been adequately warned.
The truth is we’re always in a state of getting ready for something in every season of life, whether it’s attending kindergarten the first day, our first piano recital, entering high school, our first job, getting engaged and married or having our first baby or first grandchild. And then those latter years when one has to sell their house and valuables to move into a retirement home. We finally face life’s greatest event and one requiring ultimate preparation, our transition to the other side.
Jesus
stressed getting ready, the kind of getting ready that
supersedes all those important things that are present
only for a limited time. Unambiguously Jesus declared to
His disciples in His long teaching on the Mount of
Olives, "You also must be ready". He’s
speaking of His promised return to earth; a future event
which devout believers hold dear. Whether it's
preparation for our imminent death or Christ's return
many mock and scoff at the mention of the vital
necessity of being ready. Sadly in my observation, even
in much of the visible church it is too often
under-proclaimed.Most just put if off and ignore it. In fact Jesus Himself likened His returning to the days of Noah. People went about their business unaware of their impending doom. Perhaps the economy was strong and people were living well. They reasoned, “Who needs to listen to that crazy preacher building a boat? Similar to the days of Solomon, “A man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry” (Ecclesiastes 8:15).
But Jesus said, "You also must be ready". And He went on to state, "because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him". In some cases we expect an imminent death such as the end stages of a deadly disease but most of the time we just don't know. So we have a very forthright warning from Jesus Himself that we are to be ready for His return. However regarding the specific date or time we do not know, even though all throughout the church age many have attempted to forecast that date, but as you know they've been wrong every time!
So the focus is not so much on the unannounced date, as it is on living in a state of preparedness for our death or the Lord’s return, whichever comes first. We won’t have time to get ready at the trumpet sound, so we must be ready before that great and glorious moment when Jesus appears in the clouds. Through Scripture we have been adequately warned.
Have you heeded that warning?
Are you ready?
Are you warning others?
Certainly one of the greatest blessings of
life is being ready when our time comes to depart from
this life or when the Lord returns.
Be encouraged today, (Hebrews 3:13)
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father, depending on the state of our
hearts we view the Scriptures about death or the
return of Your Son, in dread as a warning, or in
joyful anticipation as a welcoming. We prepare our
hearts by trusting You and asking You for the
forgiveness of sins and inviting You to reign in our
lives. We pray for those we love that they too will
make spiritual preparations for their death or to be
ready for the trumpet sound when the dead in Christ
rise first and then we who believe will be caught up
to meet Jesus in the skies. We have been warned, so
we want to be prepared and welcome with great
anticipation the time when we will transition upon
our death or when Christ returns at His second
coming. We lift up our heads as our redemption draws
near. Amen.For further Scripture regarding the second coming of Christ see I Thessalonians 4:13-5:11; Revelation 1:7.
Today's
Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"I Wish We'd All Been Ready"
Video Larry Norman
Stephen's note: In the early 70's this
song was instrumental in my decision to accept
Christ.
While
I'm getting tools or workshop supplies at Lowes
Brooksyne heads to the garden center (I'm sure
glad they have one since she doesn't mind my
frequent stops at Lowes during the summer
gardening months). Yesterday we stopped and she
saw an employee carrying a rose tree (shown
above). She inquired about the plant and the
employee said she was taking it out to throw
away. There were a few fresh leaves and a couple
buds so she asked if she could have it rather
than her throwing it out. She said, "I'll sell
it to you for $1.00". The deal was made and
Brooksyne brought home a $50.00 rose tree for
one dollar! She pruned and repotted it so we'll
see if we have a nice rose tree next year since
it's zoned for our area as a perennial.
Dottie was our cat from May 2001 -
January 2019 when she died in Ester's arms at 17
1/2 years of age. Although Ester has been asking
for another cat we have been in no hurry to get
one. Yesterday returning home we saw a sign
"Free Kittens" right next to the "retired
outhouse" and I asked Brooksyne if she wanted
one and you know what happened next. She found
this kitten! On the way home we stopped at
Hostetter's for some cat litter and a lady came
up and exclaimed, "You have a Calico" and
suggested we name her Grace. In determining a
full name I suggested "Amazing Grace" or
"Marvelous, Infinite, Matchless Grace" but we
settled for Gracie Sherrell Weber as Ester gives
full names to all our animals.
Gracie's
getting acclimated to her new home and we took
this photo this morning.
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