People Get Ready – Jesus Is Coming! Part 2

People get ready – Jesus is coming! If you say something like that in a crowd – even a crowd of Christians – I can almost guarantee the results. Most people will roll their eyes in exasperation, or sigh in sympathy at your ‘old fashioned ideas,’ or nod in agreement (while they quickly try to make up an excuse to avoid talking to you). Has anyone ever had that happen to them? I have.

Why would someone even make a statement like, “People get ready – Jesus is coming?” Haven’t people been saying that very thing for like – what? – a gazillion years? Isn’t that even written in the Bible someplace? Yes. Yes, it is. Here. And here. And here. Here, too. In fact, His return is written about far too many times to list them all here. And that’s the very reason why we need to keep that thought at the forefront of our minds and hearts! It’s mentioned so many times because it’s so important!

Be Ready!

Since we know that Jesus is coming eventually (whenever that is, because we don’t know) we need to make sure we are ready for Him. We can exclaim, “People get ready – Jesus is coming!” all day long, but how do we do that? We need to continuously follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, otherwise known as to walk in the Spirit. As we walk in the Spirit we will be sure that we are ready.

Jesus Himself talked about what walking in the Spirit would look like;

Luke 12:35-40

Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning;  36 and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.  37 Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.  38 And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.  39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.  40 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. NKJV

Putting It Into Practice.

Well, what does all that mean? Simply put, it means that whenever Jesus returns;

• We are found to be faithful in doing what He has called us to do.
• We walk in (practice as a lifestyle) conducting ourselves by the fruit of the Spirit.
• We flee unrighteousness and the desires of the flesh, like sexual immorality.
• We are without spot, blameless, and in peace with ourselves, others, and with God.
• We live a life of faith in Him, and not faith in ourselves or our own accomplishments.
• We pursue holiness as a way of life – not just on Sundays, but every day and in every place.

The real question is not if Jesus will return, but when He will return. His coming is as sure as the rising of the sun. We don’t know when He is going to come back, so we are encouraged to make sure we are ready at all times! Peter sums it up best when he states;

2 Peter 1:10-11

Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

People get ready – Jesus is coming!