Are You Ready?

Break time. It’s a true fall day here at the cabin. The day is overcast and dark. A cold front is trying to push through. It rained all night; and after a short break, the wind is bringing the next wave of rain in. Preparations for winter continue to be on the forefront of our minds. Days like today give us a new sense of urgency. Plans have been made, parts ordered, and more work that we think we can accomplish in just a few short weeks lay ahead. But with God’s help, we will be ready. For today, there’s potato salad in the fridge, bread rising on the counter, black-eyed peas on the stove and in a couple of hours I’ll stick the lamb in the oven. What can I say? It’s fall.

If anyone thought they saw a post on Matthew chapter 13 on Monday, and the next time they looked, it was gone. Well, you did and then you didn’t. I made the mistake of sleeping on this new insight and lost it. By Monday, I dug and dug and thought I had it. I posted it with some misgiving because I wasn’t sure my understanding was clear enough. When Honey came home, the first thing I had him to do was preview it. Let’s just say, I had missed the mark. I took the post off and then heard one of the best sermons on ‘The Sower’ that I’ve ever heard. I’m hoping that one day when Honey slows down a little, he will write it out so I can include it on Sojourner. I live with one of the greatest preachers I know. But now that the children have all grown up and moved away, he preaches to a congregation of one – me. I reap the wonderful benefits, but I wish so much that others could hear what I hear. One of the main messages he feels should be on the lips of every preacher around the world … Get ready, Jesus is coming back soon!

It makes me so sad to see Christians wander away from God at the very time we should all be hanging on tight. They have lost focus. In our insta-matic world, we don’t want to have to wait for anything – not even God. Instead of watching and waiting for the Lord’s return, we turn on ‘desperate housewives’ and sit like zombies as commercial after trashy commercial bombards our senses. We’re face-lifting, tummy-tucking, and body-waxing our time and money away in an attempt to recapture our youth, instead of helping the needy and exercising our faith. Are we teaching our children to watch and wait? With every toy known to man available, are we giving in to the influences of the world and distracting our kids with stuff? Psst …. Parents, we not only have to give account to the Lord for what we do with our time & resources, but we also are held responsible with how we have raised the children that God has put into our care.

I want to say right up front, I’m not judging. I have made so many mistakes raising my three children that I have absolutely no right to judge others. I wish someone had set me down when they were small and told me these things. Instead I allowed the world, via the media, to dictate what a good mother should do. I was a part of the “ME” generation. According to the world, my children would have grown up scarred for life if the tree at Christmas wasn’t overloaded with presents for each child. If I couldn’t afford it, I was encouraged to charge it! They assured me that I would have 12 months to pay down the credit cards before next Christmas. My children would have grown up to be anti-social and dangerous if they weren’t allowed to have the latest video games, (like all the other kids at school). We were taught that if our children didn’t fit in with the other kids, they would never become well adjusted, productive members of society as adults. Look around. How did my generation do? My generation had to have the finest, fastest, and the most. We were the generation created the term ‘latch-key kid’. Our focus was to pursue a glamorous career of our own, or else our children would be ashamed and shun us in our golden years. If our children were an inconvenience, we left them for our parents to raise. (We were also the generation that celebrated the courts decision on Roe v. Wade.) We were the generation that felt deprived and not only had to have designer clothes for ourselves but our toddlers had to have some too. (Side note here: back when I was small, I had designer clothes – my Mama made them.) We were the generation that never said NO – to ourselves or to our children. We were the generation that turned the churches into country clubs, with so many programs and activities - we left Jesus standing on the curb.

Folks, it’s time to walk away from the world’s teaching that we have embraced for so long and run to God. Get up close and personal with the Creator of all and build a deep and lasting relationship with Him. He is coming back. It will be very soon. And we really don’t want to miss the rapture. I’ve read the book. Things are going to get really ugly and scary around here during the tribulation. If you think it’s hard to be a good Christian now … just wait.

If you don’t believe me, read the book of Revelation, then to more thrills and chills, turn to the writings of Isaiah and the Old Testament prophets. Forget the “Left Behind” books. They are fiction, and child’s play, compared to the real thing. It’s time to turn off the TV, put down the Harry Potter books, and throw away the vulgar magazines. It’s time start looking to God for guidance and stop listening to the promoters of the ‘tickle your ears, feel good gospel’. That ‘tickle your ears’ stuff will get you left behind. It’s time to stop sitting in churches and letting someone entertain us, and start opening the Book for ourselves. If you can’t understand what you’re reading, find the most solid Christian you know and get them to help you understand it. Make no mistake; Jesus is coming back soon. All the warning signs are here. Are you ready?

I told you Honey does some fine preaching – he gets me motivated every time.

I have one other thing to add. Our precious daughter-in-law, Christina, has completed her licensing test … and is now officially an RN. Congratulations Sweetheart! We are so very proud of you! God is going to use you in such a big way as you minister to those in need.

Everyone, have a good night. And may the Lord bless you.