You Too Must Stand Ready

Theme: You too must stand ready

Text: Deut. 6:20-25; Heb. 11:2, 8-9; Lk. 12:35-48

This week is ‘Health Sunday’ and a good time for us to look at various common health issues with the attention they deserve. This is because many people pay very little attention to their health. The prevalent opinion, especially here in our country, is that health problems can always wait and be dealt with later after dealing with what is considered to be more important such as a funeral. This practice of ‘putting off’ treatment for health problems or a visit to the doctor long enough can be dangerous and often results in a lot of pain and suffering. The English word used to describe such an action is Procrastination. It simply means to put something off till later, and is one of the greatest problems facing many people in the world today. It is always putting off what needs to be done or hoping to do tomorrow what should have been done yesterday forgetting that tomorrow belongs to God and it may be too late. Procrastination is waiting for the deadline and not taking advantage of the time we have. It affects both sexes and every age. It affects the small child, the youth and the adult. Many relationships have been destroyed because the parties involved have constantly kept putting off the time they should have spent together. Procrastination, however, can be fatal when it relates to our relationship with Christ. We often deceive ourselves into believing that we will be prepared before our death or ready by the time Christ returns. We want to think that we are in control of the future, but the reality is that we are not. We do not even know what is going to happen to us in the next few seconds. Therefore the wisest thing to do is to be always ready and you too must stand ready.

Christ has promised that He will return and many of the things that He said and promised have already been fulfilled. His crucifixion, death and resurrection, His ascension to heaven and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost happened just the way He said it would. The fulfilment of these events confirms that all that He said that have not yet been fulfilled will also be fulfilled. Christ will definitely return as He said He would. In John 14:3, the Scriptures confirm that He has prepared a place for believers in heaven so that they would be with Him. It says “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.” While we wait for His return we are to live holy lives, witness and teach others what we know about Christ and make them His disciples.

The first thing many people read in the papers or magazines are the horoscope although they would not admit it. This is because everyone would like to know his or her future. Sometimes people search for such information by consulting all types of so-called specialists – the spiritualist, the fetish priest or any person who claims to have access to such knowledge. The search for this kind of knowledge is a worldwide phenomenon. It is a very sad commentary on our day that many people, no matter their level of education, would believe almost anything even when it defies commonsense, only because the person claims to ‘be a man of God’ or to have some spiritual gift. Many people involved in such practices are often seen as being very spiritual but the reality is that those who do not have spiritual eyes only tell spiritual lies. Such people are even paid a lot of money for their lies. Is it any wonder that claiming and pretending to have spiritual knowledge and being able to deal with future problems have become a profession or way of life for some people? Unfortunately this practice affects many people in very negative ways. Some years ago an elderly couple consulted a spiritualist about their future. They were told that the man would have gambling debts in heaven and the only way to prevent it from happening would be to pay the debt in advance. This spiritualist, through this ungodly prediction, managed to get his hands on the life savings of the couple. This case may sound very stupid but is not an isolated one. Unfortunately many cases remain untold because the affected people are afraid of offending those who made the predictions. Why are people so interested in knowing the future anyway? It is simply because human beings want to be prepared for the future. But all they need to know has already been revealed in the Scriptures. To be prepared for the future and for Christ’s return is to see all life’s experiences from heaven’s viewpoint as has been revealed in the Scriptures. Our preparation begins with knowing who Christ is, having a personal relationship with Him, and obeying His commandments.