The Disappointment Of Having Just Missed It 2018

The Disappointment Of Having Just Missed It

By Rick Gillespie- Mobley

11/18/2018 Eccl 9:11-12 Matthew 24:36-44 Text Matthew 25:1-13

Tyrone was 27 years old and for the first time in his life, he had kept a job for more than six months. He really needed this job, but the words of his boss kept going through his ears. He could still hear him yelling, “You’ve been late to work five times this month alone. The next time you’re late, you’re fired.”

Tyrone knew if he got up an extra half hour early, he would have no problem catching the bus, which would get him at the rapid on time to get to work and have 25 minutes to spare. If he got that extra half hour of sleep that he loved doing, he could catch the express and get to work on time with five minutes to spare.

Now that very same night, he notices there was a good movie that didn’t come on until 10:30pm. Tyrone knew if he set his i-phone alarm, he could get up and catch that last bus that would get him to work on time.

He thoroughly enjoyed the movie. He enjoyed it so much, he forgot to put his phone on his charger. His phone went dead. He woke up and looked at the clock on the wall. It was going to be tough to catch the express bus.

He ran down his street to the main street hoping to get there in time. He got there just in time to see the bus pulling away. He ran behind yelling wait, wait. The driver kept going. He caught the next bus and went on in to work. He knew exactly what he would say to his boss. There was a letter where his time card should have been. It said, “Get your stuff, you are fired. I don’t want to hear it.”

What was it that caused Tyrone to lose his job. Was it the bus, the phone, the charger, the movie he wanted to see, the late scheduling of the movie? Was it the supervisor’s fault for not giving him one more break or the bus driver’s fault for not stopping the bus when he chased after it.

You can blame it on anything you want, but the reality is, he lost his job that he could not afford to lose because he was not ready when it mattered the most.

Jesus talks a lot in the bible about coming back again and encourages us to be ready for his arrival. One day when we least expect it to happen, Jesus is going to come back and take away his followers. It’s going to happen so quickly that most people are going to be caught off guard.

Two men will be walking up a hill talking about t will win the Lakers with LeBron be able to stop the Warriors, when all of a sudden one will be gone. Two women will be at work discussing the latest episode of Empire when one will wonder, what happened to the other woman. Now Jesus teaches, the only people who will go away in that instant will be those who are prepared and ready to leave.

Now most of us plan to be ready when Jesus comes. Now if he came today several of us would not be ready and we will miss out, but we do plan on being ready when he actually comes. The only problem is that like Tyrone, we don’t know when some little change is going to happen in our lives and set us off course.

There is a danger in living for the final dash. The danger is, we don’t know what is going to happen in our lives between now and the dash. We deceive ourselves into thinking we are smarter than we truly are. We want to think we can control the future, but we can’t.

One day we’re walking along with Jesus and enjoying it and we assume it will be like this forever, so we let our guard down. Satan starts to attack the good in our lives, and we forget that God’s word is given to us to protect the good in our lives. Instead of growing in the Lord, we simply start cruising, going where the flow takes us. In our cruising, we start to make a few bad decisions. We’re trying cocaine just to see what if feels like and we’re smoking this weed just to make sure we’re not missing out on anything.

Jesus told us he was going away to heaven to take care of some business. As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace Use what I give to you to get the job done and be ready to give an account to me when I get back. Now I want you to watch until I come so you can be prepared.