Are You Ready?

One of my friends is notoriously slow so if I’m going to pick her up on any given day, I will call ahead and ask, “Are you ready?”  We are always getting ready for something:  work, dinner, bedtime, or a meeting of some sort.  There is one particular meeting which is the most important meeting we will ever have and that is with the Lord Jesus.

If you have never met Him, by reading this, He is inviting you to do so.  “No man comes to Me unless the Father draws him,” Jesus told His disciples (John 6:44).  God draws, invites (“Behold, I stand at the door and knock…”  Revelation 3:20; and He also offers rest;  “Come unto Me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.”  Matthew 11:28).  He doesn’t force; He offers.  When someone gives you a gift, it’s up to you to open it.  Are you ready to become part of His family?  Paul wrote in Romans 10:9  “If you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.”

How about those of you who have already prayed and asked the Lord to come into your life?  Then, according to 2 Corinthians 5:17 “the old has gone, behold all things have become new” so that you are a new creation, equipped with the power of His Holy Spirit to tap His wisdom and guidance and to follow His lead.  Are you ready to follow that lead, instead of going off on your own without consulting the One who is All-Wise?  It may involve Him taking you to unexpected places or using you in ways you never imagined.  It might even seem scary at first, but when you follow Him you are always blessed.

Are you ready to meet Him face to face?  The parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25 shows us that five were ready with the oil needed for their lamps when the bridegroom came, but the five others had no oil so the door was shut and they were left out.  Oil in the parable represents the Holy Spirit which provides the light.  The light we walk in when He draws us to His light.  After all, He said He was the light of the world (John 8:12).

One day – which we cannot put on the calendar – He will come again.  Are you ready to come into His presence?  My aunt lived in an assisted living residence which had a stationary bike near the elevator.  As she rode it each day, someone would come along and ask what she was doing.  Her response was always the same:  “I’m riding to heaven!”  And, at age 92, she did.

How about you?  Have you answered the door to let Him in?   Are you ready?