Am I Ready?

When someone you know suddenly and totally unexpectedly dies, it is reason to pause and ask the questions, "What if that were me?  Am I ready to face the Lord?"  This happened this weekend as someone vivacious, full of the Lord and life suddenly passed at the early age of 45.  The tragedy for the family and friends of this precious woman of God is beyond description for no one saw this coming.  Yet how often do any of us see it coming?  How many times do we hear of a car accident, a motorcycle accident, a house fire, whatever, that claims a life - young or old?  Several thoughts came to my mind as I pondered these questions this weekend.  Perhaps they will help you in your own introspection.

The very foremost thought that comes to mind is whether I have any unforgiveness in my heart.  The Lord is very clear on this in the Word.  Matthew 6:14 - 15  For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.  Forgiveness is a major stumbling block to our entrance into the kingdom.  Unforgiveness creates a root that grows and entangles us in many negative behaviors - bitterness and judgement being two of them.  I have to search my heart daily to insure that there has not been a small wedge of unforgiveness that worked its way into my soul.  It is easily done.  Someone offends us and we begin to ponder on that offense.  We justify our negative feelings about that person and begin to view them through a filter that is not of God.  Everything becomes darkly colored quickly, as long as unforgiveness is still in our hearts.  That same unforgiveness blots us and soils our wedding garments so that we are not ready to meet our bridegroom.

Another aspect of our readiness is our endurance.  Mark 13:13 & Matthew 10:22 All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.  Revelation 14:12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.  Our salvation is more than a one time statement that we have accepted Christ as our savior.  Our salvation is walked out daily in our lives.  Proclaiming Jesus as the Lord of our lives requires us to live with Jesus as the Lord of our lives.  How many of us are guilty of allowing something or someone else to push to the forefront of our lives and allow Jesus to be pushed to the background?  It is so insidiously easy for us to be distracted by things of this world that play on our emotions and flesh.  Consider something as innocent as family.  Our family members are not at the same place we are with the Lord.  So we are pressured to forego worship times or ministry opportunities because they are not important to them.  Yet we know that this is something that God has called us to do.  How about something even more basic - food.  Do we crave food and overindulge in it to the detriment of our temple?  What about work?  Do we sacrifice time with the Lord because making more money or having more prestige is more important to us than our relationship with Him?  These are just a few examples of how we can easily fail to endure.  Enduring until the end requires consistency in our walk with Him.  Daily I reevaluate what has become a priority in my life and ask Him, is this how you want me to spend my time here on earth?  Am I making a difference in eternity by my life today?

Submission to the Lord is the third thought that comes to mind.  James 4:7-10  Submit yourselves, then, to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and he will come near to you.  Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Grieve, mourn and wail.  Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.  Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up.  Sumitting ourselves fully to the will of God requires us to let go of our own agendas and grab hold of that which the Lord has designed for our lives.  Many times we cannot begin to understand why He is taking us in the direction we see laid out before us.  Seldom will our lives make perfect sense.  However, if we are indeed submitting everything in our lives to Him, in essence releasing everything into His care, then we can be assured that He will lift us up.  We must recognize that our own sinful ways will cause much grief to ourselves and to our loving Father who wants only the best for us.  As long as we are clinging to our stuff, He cannot bless us with His stuff. 

Finally, have I forsaken all else for the sake of the gospel?  Matthew 19:29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.  Is the Lord the very most important focus of my life?  Have I given it all up for Him?  Can I truly say that I am picking up my cross and carrying it willingly for Him?  I know that unlike the apostles I have not left everything behind and traveled into the unknown carrying the gospel, yet in some ways, it has felt that way at times.  I am grateful when I listened to Him tell me to leave my previous state including leaving family and friends behind and start over for Him here in Georgia.  As hard as that was, I could have never imagined the blessings He had in store for me or the work that He wanted me to do. Obedience always pays off, if not now then certainly in eternity.

So my sisters and brothers, food for thought today.  Are you ready?  Only you and the Lord know what is happening in your lives.  We are wonderful disguisers of the truth about ourselves.  Frequently we do not have a clue about what is really happening in the life of the person sitting next to us.  We have become so adept at putting on the happy face and proclaiming everything is just fine when our world is coming down around us.  Be sensitive to Holy Spirit for both yourself and for the person sitting next to you. It may be that they desperately need a hand up out of a pit and God put you there to extend it.  One closing scripture: Revelation 3:3  Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent.  But if you do not wake up, I will come as a thief, and you will not know what time I will come to you.