In Matthew's Steps: Be Prepared!

The First Steps: Read: Matthew 24

Focus Verse: “Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” (vs. 42)

Meditation: Be Prepared!

My two sons are in cub scouts. Every other Tuesday or so, they trudge out to learn about life, the world, and how to do important things like tie knots and make bird houses. Apart from all the fun they are having, though, my boys are learning an important lesson. One immortalized in the boy scout motto:

Be Prepared!
This lesson is played out in every single activity they do.
“Be prepared...” when out want to tie two things together.
“Be prepared...” when it comes to home safety.
“Be prepared...” when you go camping, or hiking, or fishing.
“Be prepared...” when riding your bicycle.

I have loved my boys being in scouts for the sole reason that: this lesson is important to learn. It’s important to be prepared...for anything and everything ‘cause you never know when life will throw you a curveball.

This lesson, be prepared, is precisely what Jesus is trying to tell the disciples in this chapter of Matthew. The focus is on the end-times, what happens at the end of the world, and what Jesus says to the disciples he says to each and every one of us: Be prepared!

Be prepared... when the walls come crashing around you. You never know when the very building you’re standing in will be swept away by a tornado, earthquake, or something else and everything you worked for will be destroyed. So be prepared to lose it all.

Be prepared... to face persecution. For the time will come when those you trust most will turn on you. Be prepared to stand firm with what you believe, or like your home, you too will be swept away.

Be prepared...for deception. “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect...”(vs. 22) Not everyone in the world will be in your best interest. When others come in the name of Christ, discover their motivation. Search their heart. See if they come from God...or not. And be prepared for their deception.

Be prepared...for terrible things to happen. “...the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.” Even when all this happens... be prepared to raise your hands and meet your Lord.

Be prepared...even if nothing seems to be happening. Keep your bag at the door, like one who is expecting a child, just in case in the middle of the night something happens. Be prepared!

This cry for preparedness strikes us as it struck the disciples. How often have we thought we have more time than we do. We don’t need to go to church this Sunday...there’s always next Sunday. We aren’t ready to forgive our neighbor or relative quite yet... we still have tomorrow. We’re just not there with God yet...but there’s always tomorrow. How often have some thought these very thoughts only to have their life taken from them that very day.

Be prepared... can act as a call to attentiveness. Be alert. Be alive! For you don’t know when your world will end with your own death...and you don’t know when the WHOLE world will end with its. Be prepared. Always be alert. Have your bags packed if need be. Harbor no regrets. Tell your family you love them TODAY. Do it NOW. Don’t wait. ‘Cause you never know when the thief in the night will come and the world as you know it will end. So...stay alert! And be prepared! Amen.

Questions to Ponder...
1) What have you been putting off doing? What do you need to do TODAY to prepare for Christ’s coming?

2) What would you do if you knew that you only had a week to live? How does this news shift your priorities?

3) Martin Luther said that if he had just a day til the end of the world, he’d plant a tree. How does this statement bring us hope as we look forward to the coming of Christ?

A Prayer to Pray...
Heavenly Father, we know not the day or the hour of your Son’s return, just as we know not the day of our own death. Keep us awake and alert that, in the hour He comes, we may greet Him with joy at the gates, through Christ our Lord. Amen.