Prepared At All Times

Are you prepared for what is coming? Do you know how to prepare? Do you know what to prepare for? If you knew, would you prepare?

I recall the Boy Scout motto of “Be Prepared.” I remember my Scout Master often teaching us lessons to be prepared. He always used a different example every time he talked to us about it. We face a lot of different situations as we go through this life, don’t we? Sometimes they catch us completely off guard.

Nearly all of us were caught off guard recently. Though, we did have some time for preparation, if we were paying attention to what was happening and how things were escalating. Too often we are caught unaware because we aren’t paying attention. We don’t like the news, so we don’t watch it. We don’t like our work, so we keep our heads down and only do what we are told. We don’t like our neighbor, so we never look in their direction.

There is another topic we don’t like—death. We don’t want to think about it. We don’t want to discuss it. Yet we all must face it. There is no reason to fear death, unless we are not prepared for it. You may wonder how you can prepare for death, especially if you are still young. There is only one way.

Jesus stated on multiple occasions that no one knows when the end is coming except the Father. He told parables about masters leaving and coming back to check on their servants, and the servants didn’t know when he would return. In today’s Scripture, we see His parable uses a thief coming to the house and the owner is unaware of when.

Folks, none of us know when our end will come. If we are not prepared, saved by Jesus, we are going to end up in eternal torment—hell. If we are saved by Jesus, we will end up in eternal glory—heaven. It’s really pretty simple. When we are prepared, saved, we have no fear of death. We are going to a place far better than anything we can imagine. Perhaps our only regret is that we didn’t do enough while on this earth to ensure our loved ones will be there with us.

Might I suggest that each of us be prepared. Maybe we should spread the gospel of Jesus to those we love, to our neighbor, to people we meet. Just maybe we should live in the comfort of knowing death has no hold over us. Yes, let’s go about our lives prepared.

I pray each of us is prepared. I pray that those who are not prepared will become prepared. I pray everyone will accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. I pray we all live our lives in peace, knowing we have no fear of death. Be prepared. Accept Jesus as your Savior. Live without fear. Live in peace.

Matthew 24:42-44 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 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. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”