One day, a few months ago, I was expecting company. My mother's father who I had very little contact with my entire life was making a special trip from Philadelphia to New Jersey to see me. We were never close, I barely knew him, but it was a big deal that he would take a few precious hours out of his life to travel and see his estranged granddaughter. So, I cleaned the house. Rid it of the intolerable animal hair that he is notoriously allergic to. And I made a pot roast. Some might say an act of God that I cooked. I sat outside on the front porch with my dog, scanning up and down the road, waiting for his rental car's arrival. He was right on time. We ate pot roast. Chatted a bit. And then he left and I've not heard from him since.
I'm a little fuzzy on the details, but according to some pastor, Jesus will return Saturday around 6 pm. That's a handy little piece of information to have. I've seen it for the last few months on billboards and on the side of buses: "May 21, 2011, Jesus will come again." Now, I've always believed that Jesus will return again and take His believers to Heaven. But I also believe that no one can know when this will happen. In fact, not even Jesus Himself. Only God knows. Even for a Christian who is sure of their life after death, the event can seem intimidating, scary even. Despite all the knowledge and assurance that it will be a glorious occasion for believers, it's sort of unnerving.
Why? I wonder. What if my mother's father had shown up at my house and it was a pit?! What if he stepped in the front door and started a sneezing fit from the filthy, black hair left on the couch by my lazy cat? What if he was hungry and I had no food in the house? I would have been so embarrassed. And I barely even knew this man!
Goodness! What if Jesus, the One who literally SAVED MY LIFE, came back to get me and take me home, and I was a mess? A bitter, angry, lazy, icky mess. What an embarrassing disaster. Now that I think about it, that's what's so unnerving about the whole thing!
So with all the talk, the chaos, the gossip, the condemnation, the speculation about this pastor's prophecy for Saturday, it's not just something to snicker and shrug off. If the world ends, the true disaster wouldn't be that I never finished recording my album, or gave my nephews and nieces one last hug, or missed Oprah's finale show. It would be the shame of not being ready to come face to face with my Savior. And so, while personally, I do not believe this pastor's prophecy that Jesus will return May 21, 2011, I certainly believe that He COULD return at any moment. And that is an ever sobering reminder, that I should ALWAYS be ready to meet Him.
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John 14:1-4
1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 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. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Matthew 24:36 & 42
"But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come."
Matthew 24:36 & 42
"But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come."
John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
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