Three steps to spiritually prepare for the Lord's return

When we think about Christ’s return, we often think about timelines and events.

Have you given up on that yet?

The Lord said, “No man knows the day or the hour,” so you can just throw away all those books that have predicted a year or a deadline.

Maybe the Lord doesn’t want us to figure it out.

Maybe He has other objectives in telling us to “be ready.”  He may want us to take our character seriously.

Here are three things Jesus emphasized the most about His return to earth:

1.  You need to be doing what He called you to do.

Three parables in Christ’s closing days on earth described how he wants us to think about His return.  

One of them says that being actively engaged in your assignment is critical.

I’m not called to do what you are called to do.  We all have our tasks and assignments.

Why do we worry about and judge everybody else?  They will give an account of how they did.  

You and I just need to be sure that we know our assignment and are busy DOING IT when He returns.

2. You need to be sure you are filled with His Spirit.

Another parable concerns ten bridesmaids attending a wedding.  Five were wise, and five were foolish.

The foolish let their lamps run out of oil and were not prepared when the bridegroom came at midnight.

I may not know the exact time of His arrival, but I do know the exact state of my soul.

I can’t afford to become dry, empty, and lukewarm as a Christian.  He is coming for a Bride who is anticipating, filled with the Spirit, and very much in love.

He told the Ephesian Christians that they had “lost their first love.”

Are you still excited about Christ?  Have you become “low on oil?”  

Look up to heaven and ask the Holy Spirit to fill you again every single day!

3. You need to be sure you are a faithful steward.

God has given all of us certain talents and gifts.  Look at those gifts as “money on deposit.”

Every time you use a gift or talent to help someone else, you are “investing it.”

One parable told of the different measures of talents each person had and what they did with them.

The person who got into trouble with the Master did NOTHING with his gifts.  He neglected them and “hid them in the ground.”

We are not saved by our works.  We will, however, all account for whether we used our gifts only for ourselves or to help others.  

Quit hiding your abilities.  Invest them.  Invest in others.  Invest your financial means.  Invest your testimony.  Invest your abilities to benefit others.

Christ said that if we USE our talents, He will give us more!

Maybe we should be thinking more about our calling, our fullness, and our gifts than if a certain credit card is the mark of the beast.

Christ knows when He will return.  

We just need to know if we are ready.