Be ready for that hour

"For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape." (1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 NKJV)

What is the word (the end of the world) means for us.

The end of our earthly life may ocurr either by death or by the ending of the world and the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ to receive us to Him. Our departure from this world is the most monumental event which can happen to every person. So everyone ought to be ready for his departure from this earthly life, because this event is the most important crucial event of all. The spiritual state of a person at this moment determines his eternal destiny.

The examples about readiness

So everyone must do his best to be ready at that moment. The bible gave us three examples to describe what is meant by readiness: first example is the readiness of all people to keep their houses guarded, lest the thief come and robs them of their possessions. Second example is that of a pregnant woman who expects that she will bore a child although she does not know exactly what time she will be in labor, so she do her best from the beginning of the pregnancy to prepare what she will need for herself and for her newly borne for this event. The third example is that of the bride who is getting ready for her marriage long time before the ceremony of the marriage and she always looking and waiting for the hour of her wedding. Readiness may be accomplished in the following ways:

   1. Do not forget that departure from this world is a fact

Readiness needs us to know and remember that every day even every moment our departure from this world is a fact and that it draws nearer to us as time goes by moreover we must wait for this event as st Peter said: "Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?" (2 Peter 3:11-12 NKJV).

     2. You have to watch yourself

Readiness also needs us to be watchful for what belongs to our spiritual life and also to avoid committing transgressions against our God. This needs praying and searching the Holy bible to fulfill the commandments and to do God's will. The Lord has ordered us to watch ourselves saying : " Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:36 NKJV.

     3. Repentance

Readiness also is accomplished by repentance. repentance is essential because how can the sinner man meet the holy awesome God. Our God is Holy He accepts the repent ants as He said about the necessity of repentance: “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17 NKJV), and He said also: " I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:5 NKJV),

     4. Laying up Treasures in heaven

Treasures in heaven can be accomplished through the godly deeds and through having mercy on the poor, the widows, the orphans and towards the misfortunate people... because these deeds prepare for our acceptance in heaven and welcome us there. These good deeds are counted for us in heaven as treasures. Our Lord command us to do so by saying : "Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys." (Luke 12:33 NKJV).

 

Our God is always preparing us for this event through many ways and many messages but many people ignore His warnings. Sometimes people try to find excuse by claiming that they are busy, but they forget that their eternal fate should have the most absolutely priority, and that they must rearrange their priorities. It is also very important to remember that we must prepare our selfes for this highly important event as early as we can, because we cannot know what tomorrow will bring for us. Lastly the prudent man must prepare himself for this event and never harden his heart as it is written: " while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”(Hebrews 3:15 NKJV).