Are You Prepared?

Are You Prepared

by Amber Leggette-Aldrich

Have you ever been in a situation where you were planning for a very special occasion, something like a first date or a special anniversary? Or perhaps a long awaited vacation or weekend getaway? Did you plan and spend time preparing, desiring that everything be just right? Most of us would try our very best to be prepared, to look just right and have everything in it’s place, ready for the event, wanting everything to be just perfect. In fact, we make plans and preparations for many things in our daily lives. And most of us have at least on a few occasions gone through a good deal of time and effort, preparing to look and be our best for someone. But do we do that for Jesus? Are we prepared to meet Him?

The bible gives us pretty clear instructions on what we must do in order to prepare ourselves (our hearts and souls) for Him:

In Acts 2:38 it says, “…Repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost“. (KJV)

Ephesians 2:8 tell us, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ” (KJV)

And Acts 4:12 says, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (KJV)

Of course this is only a small part of the bible’s instructions for our preparation. The bible also makes it very clear what will happen to us if we are not ready.

“The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah. The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” Psalms　9:16 & 17 (KJV)

“Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.” Psalms 55:15 (KJV)

“Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” Matthew 23:33 (KJV)

“And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:15 (KJV)

All too often the thought of where our souls will spend eternity is put off, not taken seriously, or just not thought about at all. We use excuses of being too busy with everyday life, saying things like, “I’ve got more important things to do right now; I’ll take care of it later, when I have time”. But this is something that simply cannot wait until later! What if there is no “later”?

We have all heard stories of how things can happen in “the blink of an eye”. Think about that phrase for a moment. See how long it takes to blink; it doesn’t even take a full second of time. But that is how fast life can end! And most of the time we never see it coming. My son Jason was young, strong and healthy, but was struck without warning with a massive heart attack and died instantly. One minute Christian was an active 8 year old boy having a good time riding his snowmobile, a minute later he was pinned under the tire of a truck being crushed. A while back a friend of mine was killed when the engine of a car he was working under fell on him. Another man recently died suddenly in Big Lake of an embolism. We hear stories like these all the time, but somehow still manage to deceive ourselves into thinking, “that won’t happen to me”. But I ask you, why not? I don’t mean to be morbid or a doomsayer, but the truth is we will all die, sooner or later! And none of us knows the day or the hour, or the where or how of it.

So are you ready to meet Jesus? Is your heart right with Him? Have you been baptized in Jesus name and received the gift of the Holy Ghost? If so, halleleujah! Now what are you doing to reach out to others and helping them to get ready? And if you are not ready to meet Jesus, why not get ready right now? Don’t put it off any longer and risk finding yourself at His feet saying, “I want to do it now” and hearing Him say, “now it is too late”!

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