My paternal grandmother, Mamal, was a very strong and independent woman. What I appreciate most is her unshakable faith through a very tough life. She had to be strong because she raised five children alone. My Dad's bedroom was in the third floor attic of his house on Fifth Street, here, in Wilmington. For two nights he heard someone outside and told his mother. Both times he had turned on a light and the person was scared away. The third night Mamal told Dad she would go upstairs and wait. Sure enough she went to the third floor alone and heard someone. She heard a ladder being placed to the window and then she heard someone climbing. As soon as Mamal saw the top of the hat coming up to the window she shot! She heard a yell, a fall and nothing else. Afraid, she had killed someone, she went outside to look for the body. When she got to the ladder she saw a hat on the ground with a bullet hole all the way through it! She saw no blood and no body. She never heard anything about anyone being shot so she said maybe she just grazed the top of his head. Anyway, he never came back! I come from strong women!
This story reminds me of 1 Thessalonians 5: 2, "for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." The Bible has told us that Jesus is coming back to take his people to live with Him forever. John 14; 3, "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." If you are not one of His (if you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior and believe that He died on the cross for you) you will be left behind to face terrible times. More difficult times than man has ever known. I cannot even imagine that!
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." Like Mamal, you must be prepared! You must watch and know He is coming! Mark 13: 32, "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." When people make predictions please remember that Jesus does not even know the day or hour!
If God could come at any minute we better not put off another minute. We need to examine our lives and decide how we can serve God now. We need to live the life of a witness, always sharing the Good News! If we are to be prepared we must first believe that Jesus Christ is coming. We would not cook and prepare our house for guest if we did not believe they were coming. We have to believe that although we are not worthy of salvation, Jesus died on the cross for us and by His blood we are saved. Saved meaning that we could not have earned it - it was a gift from Jesus. A gift to spend eternity in Heaven with Him.
If we believe that Jesus died for us and is coming back for us then that is faith. To keep faith we must read God's Word. We have to do this to keep from all of the distractions in this world. We are also told to "keep watch". If we are going to keep watch we have to stay focused on Him. There will be distractions that keep us from our faith so we must stay in constant communication with God. Keeping our faith alive has to be most important.
Do not be left behind! Be prepared and keep watch! It will be beyond anything we could ever imagine. We will spend eternity in pure joy and bliss unlike anything we have ever experienced. We will never again experience suffering, disease, distress or problems of this life!
Are you prepared?