Good News! Jesus is Coming: Prepare for Departure

by F. D. Adkins

She trudges through the house and into the kitchen to find a snack. She knows it will still be a while until dinner because her parents just got home from work. Her tummy is already rumbling, and by the time her mom cooks, it will be close to eight o’clock. The sound from the television in the kitchen echoes in unison with the one in the living room. They both only have small thirteen-inch screens with twisty knobs which is why she always watches tv in the basement. Her dad picked up a new floor model with push buttons and a remote control, which means it can actually find a channel without the news.  At six in the evening, that is all that is on those twisty knob things. Boring. Of course, her mom has both televisions going so they make sure not to miss any of the so-called important stuff.

She opens the cabinet door and starts pushing cans aside hoping to find the peanut butter when a word catches in her ear. Her body freezes as she listens.

“The snow is expected to begin late tomorrow night,” a deep monotone voice flows from both directions.

“Yay, no school. I wonder how many days we will be out, mom?” Her face beams with excitement as she hops up and down.

“I don’t know, honey, but we have to get to the store quick. I bet the milk and bread are already gone.” Her mom reaches for her purse and keys. “Hurry up and get your shoes. We have to get going.”

***

In the south, the word snow brings instantaneous reactions. Adults panic, and kids cheer. Even if the forecast is only calling for a dusting three days from now, children are already making plans for their day out of school, and the grocery stores are slammed with people stocking up on their milk and bread. Why milk and bread? At least milk and bread are partially understandable, but what about the toilet paper that some hoarded and others panicked over during the recent pandemic. As soon as the media started announcing a shortage of toilet paper, people became desperate to see how many rolls they could get their hands on.

If a report comes through the television or internet, people take it seriously and spring into action. Sometimes the preparations do not always match the situation, but all the same, people are preparing.

As I looked at some of the news articles this week, I started thinking, and the question that came to my mind provoked me to do some soul searching. If we do all this preparing for stuff we hear on the news, and if we believe God’s Word and take God seriously, why do we not spend every second preparing for His return? If we rush out for milk and bread in anticipation because a person predicted snow, if we buy up toilet paper because the media tells us there is going to be a shortage, if we study sales ads weeks before black Friday to make sure what stores to go to for the best bargain, what do we do to prepare for the return of Jesus which could happen at any time?

• “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye not think the Son of Man cometh.” Matthew 24:42-44 KJV

As I continued to ponder this question, I created a mental list:

• If I know Jesus could return any second, what do I need to change about my daily schedule? What do I need to prioritize?
  • “And now, little children, abide in Him; that when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.” 1 John 2:28 KJV
  • “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” Luke 21:36 KJV
• If I know Jesus could return any second, shouldn’t I have my Bible in my hand when I leave the house instead of my phone?
  • “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth…” Ephesians 6:14 KJV
• If I know Jesus could return any second, is there anyone that I need to ask for forgiveness or anyone that I need to forgive? Is there anything I need to confess to God?
  • “Therefore if you bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother has ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” Matthew 5:23-24 KJV
  • “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” Matthew 6:14 KJV
  • “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”  Psalm 66:18 KJV
• If I know Jesus could return any second, shouldn’t I be out there making sure my family and friends are prepared also?
  • “’Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him.” Luke 8:39 KJV
  • “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Matthew 28:19-20 KJV

God’s Word tells us that Jesus is coming back to take his children home to Heaven. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:3 KJV.

As I read these words, my eyes lifted up with excitement, and I sat staring at the puffy white clouds in the sky thinking about those words, “that where I am, there you may be also.”  I will see Jesus face to face. No more dark valleys of this life to plod through… no more pain… no more tears… no more stress… only mountaintops. I will see all those that have gone on before. I can have coffee with the man I called “Dad.” I can hear my mamaw laugh. I can have my aunt’s famous peanut butter fudge and sugar cookies.

Think about it. Absorb it. Let the thought consume you. We will be face to face with the One who loves us so much that He died to save us. We will be face to face with the One who loves us so much that he suffered through the agony of an excruciating death in our place so that we could have eternal life. Think about the enormity of that love.

The anticipation of being with Jesus makes me want to run out into the yard and wait. But God has us here for a purpose until He returns. So while we are watching and waiting, Hebrews 12:1 says, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (KJV). So, let’s prepare for our Savior to take us home. Let’s get rid of anything (doubt, fear, sin, …) that keeps us from doing the work God has assigned us to do, and let’s run this race with everything we have because just imagine what is waiting when we cross that finish line.

Are we ready? Let’s live each minute as if it could be the very moment that Jesus returns, and while we are watching for Him, let’s tell everyone how GREAT is the LOVE of JESUS!