Are We Ready to go ?

That means : ready to set out… yes, but where to?

To our heavenly home, my dear friends! To that home all the heroes of faith we read about in Hebrews 11 were dreaming of ! They had this homeland before their eyes and longed for it; it was in their sights.

The apostle Paul already said that he would “rather be with Christ, for that is by far the better…” (Phil. 1:23).

Do we, deep within us, have the same hope – and also the certainty that we will one day be with Him when this life here comes to an end? Or that we will go with Him when He comes to take His bride?

To be “ready to go” means to live with our eyes fixed on the Lord, as if He wanted to take us to Himself right now.

It is true that such a hope can raise questions and lead us into a deeper and more honest self-examination.

“Travel-ready” – that is the offer travel agencies make us for our holidays: they take care of everything !
But for us Christians, our destination is heaven: a wonderful place where – let us not forget it – we will spend eternity! And the Lord has already prepared everything for our eternal happiness !

But the life we spend here on earth is really insignificant compared with this eternity; therefore such a hope should lead us to question our lives and move us to a deeper and more sincere self-examination.

Let us first be sure that we rely on His grace and not on our achievements for God, our so-called “successes”.

Are we seeking the things that are above? Are we wholeheartedly available and less attached to certain things of this world ? Jesus reminds us: “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven…” (Matt. 6:20).

But this must not lead us to neglect our daily tasks ; “whatever you do, do it from the heart, as for the Lord and not for people” (Col. 3:23).

Some obstacles which may need to be overcome and cleared up:
— Having a “poor”, inadequate idea of heaven ; for if our hope is vague, our heart will find it hard to be stirred ! Read again Rev. 21:21–26, where we are given a picture of the future glory in the new Jerusalem, for God has prepared a glorious city for us !
— Let us watch over doctrine; let us hold fast to what the Word says, without watering it down or leaving anything out!
— Let us lay every unsettled guilt at the foot of the cross and confess our failures.
— Love for the world! This must absolutely be watched, for it tries to spread within us secretly…
— Let us make sure we do not have a false image of God: He is and remains our Creator, our loving Father in heaven, who “wants all people to be saved” (1 Tim. 2:4).

We are to be ready for the return of Christ ; Paul encourages us in 1 Thess. 5:4: “But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief; you are all children of the light and children of the day…”

Finally: if Jesus were to come back tomorrow – would there be something that urgently needed to be put right ?

If so, then let us do it now, without delay… for the Lord will come like a thief in the night…

Let us not forget to thank Him every day for so great a salvation, and to be grateful ; let us keep our lamp burning and be “ready to go”! 

Franz