ARE YOU READY?

One Sunday morning I was reading the paper and relaxing with a really good cup of coffee when Carol asked, "Are you ready?" Ready for what, I thought as I turned a page on the Op-Ed section. Then I realized it. Church! I had only five minutes to get ready for church! Good thing I only was attending the service, not leading it. 

Are you ready? To answer you also must ask, "Ready for what?" Carol and I recently attended a luncheon with a speaker on "Preparedness." He wanted to know if we were prepared - for a weather crisis, an earthquake, a terrorist attack or an event that would take away our electricity. He said it was amazing that so few people are prepared with food and water for even three days, 72 hours, should a catastrophe occur. 

Carol and I are updating our Wills and setting up a Trust so that we will be ready for when we're no longer here, so our heirs will not be troubled with so many legal possibilities. It feels good to be prepared.

We get prepared for so many things. A young woman has just completed her residency for a career as a medical doctor. A few weeks ago several hundred Lutheran pastors and teachers were ready to assume the tasks of their first assignments. We start getting ready very young. Mom and Dad may ask, "Are you dressed yet?" But they really are asking if the child is getting ready to go.

Getting ready for some is a constant thing. I work on my sermons weeks ahead of time. I've always done that and it's a good habit that's hard to break. Some people wait until the last minute with many things. One pastor told me he works better under pressure, preparing at the last minute. Perhaps he does, but maybe he has done it for so many years that he has become an expert at it.

Thankfully, our loving God didn't wait until the last minute to prepare His plan of salvation for us. The Bible tells us that our salvation has been prepared ahead of time. From the beginning, God already had a plan to correct the evils of Sin. After the fall, God took the time to prepare the world for the One who would deliver them.

We know Him as Jesus of Nazareth, "who was delivered up for our offenses, but raised again for our justification." (Romans 4:25) In Jesus Christ, God the Father was ready with a plan for our salvation. Are we ready to meet Him? Are we prepared by faith to receive the blessings He has for us? 

Are you ready?