The alarm goes off at 5:00 a.m. Time to start the day.
Your feet slide out of their cozy blanket nest into the chill room. You make your way through the house gathering up your keys and cell phone. Quickly slipping a banana and a granola bar into the pocket of your bathrobe you next rummage in a closet for some shoes.
A last farewell to a sleepy eyed cat you close the door, lock it and head for the car. You back out of driveway and onto the quiet street.
Another day has begun.
Wait.
Something is wrong with this picture and I’m sure you’ve caught it because I didn’t work too hard to hide it! Are you headed to work in your bathrobe?
Yup. You are.
You reacted appropriately to the alarm. You didn’t question its right to interfere with your sleep. You didn’t turn in off or even snooze a few more minutes. The alarm is meant to wake you up and it worked.
The alarm is meant to wake you up and it worked. You got up.
But were you ready for the day? Hardly!
Everyone spends some time getting ready before leaving for work. We all cover at least the basics of dressing, brushing teeth, combing hair. You can expand on that list based on your level of self-maintenance. But we all agree there is a level of “readiness” that must be attained before walking out the front door.
Just because you are awake doesn’t mean that you are ready.
In our current global health crisis there are alarms sounding. Its loud, it’s a sound that is circling and reverberating throughout the globe. There is a sense urgency in every nation on earth that SOMETHING must be done. The alarm cannot be ignored, we are all awake. But are we ready for what happens next?
In Mathew chapter 25 Christ tell a story about a group of bridesmaids that had a similar experience. A group of 10 virgins had been selected to lead the way for the bridegroom when he went out to receive his bride. They were to carry their lamps ahead of the procession. However, the bridegroom was delayed. The 10 virgins became weary of the wait and fell asleep.
“ But at midnight there was a shout, “Behold the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!”
The virgins awoke at the sound of the alarm. They had fallen asleep with the expectation that they would hear his approach; they didn’t intend to miss this moment, they were all expecting him!
They were awake! But they were not ALL ready. Upon awaking to the call, five of them found that they did not have the necessary oil for their lamps to light the way before the the procession. While they were trying to procure it, the five that were ready went on without them.
It is an exciting time to be a Christian!
The signs of Christ’s immanent return are happening all around us. The alarms, the warnings, that Christ so lovingly set for us are sounding in our ears. Wake up! I’m coming!
Just as we do not confuse being awake as being ready in the case of going to work in the morning, we should not confuse our alertness to the alarms around us to actual character readiness. Hebrews 12:1 makes the call to “lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us.”
To prepare for the day of God we must examine closely our characters, our habits, and our choices. Just as we spend time in front of our bathroom mirror inspecting and improving upon our outward appearance we must hold our characters up to the mirror of the law of God for inspection
We must like David ask the lord, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalms 139:23,24
We must break open our hearts before him, allowing him to make a thorough cleansing of sin and selfishness. We must allow him to point out the habits and choices that lead us out of the “way everlasting” Now is the time to present yourself, humble and solemn, before his throne.
While the alarms are sounding and you are awake and alert do not neglect to do the work of preparing your heart for his coming!
