Getting Ready for What?

In 2004, at the end of the first week of January, Houston was all abuzz.  Actually the busy-bee syndrome started long before then, because of Superbowl 38.  Yes, Superbowl 38 was to be held in Houston.  And a quarter million people were expected to descend on the City and party hard just because some men were going to congregate at Reliant Stadium and chase a funny shaped ball up and down the field to score points.  And a group of those men would be the winners.  They would be number one.  And there would be a great celebration for them, with champagne flowing and whooping in their locker room and dancing in the streets of their home city and even a parade.  And some place else there would be sorrow.  Grown men would cry and mope about perhaps for days or even weeks.  

I wondered how it was that a city of millions would get ready for that one big event.  There were even other events leading up to them Big One.  Some of those events were for worthwhile causes and some were just for a good time.   There were plans to build 38 Habitat Homes, collecting books and sports equipment for needy children and putting dollars in soup pots at the end of our worship services to feed the hungry.  All sorts of things were going on – some purposeful and some just for fun.  Children of all ages – from 0 to 99 – converged on the George R. Brown Convention Center for the NFL experience.  

 

I wonder how it was that an entire city could gear up for one supposedly spectacular day. What are we doing for the rest of our lives?  There was a yucky moldy something on the roof of our baseball stadium – and it was important that the roof of Minute Maid Park – the baseball stadium be cleaned by Superbowl.   It was important that our light rail system be running before Superbowl.   It was important that our streets be repaired and resurfaced for Superbowl.  

What happened after Superbowl?   We went back to our everyday, mundane, empty lives.  What happened?  Is the most important event in our lives – in the life of this city – Superbowl?  Should it not matter how our city looks from one day to the next?  Should our infrastructure not be maintained as a matter of course? 

And I wonder what happens we Jesus comes back?  The difference between Jesus’s coming and Superbowl is that we knew, well in advance, when Superbowl would take place.  We knew the exact day, the exact time and the exact location.  And we prepared for it in grand fashion.  But when Jesus comes back, we know not the day nor the hour.  

We who believe in Him and the Bible know that He is coming back.  And so it is important to us to live everyday of our lives as if He is coming back now.  So my question to you is:  Are you living a life so that when Jesus comes He will know who you are?  Will He recognize you as one of His children?  Can you look forward to the day when Jesus is coming  -- with anticipation – or with dread?  

Sometimes in my everyday life, I am confronted with making a decision – it doesn’t matter if it’s a business effort or a personal thing – but sometimes I ask myself when I’m on the verge of doing something – what if Jesus comes?  If Jesus came at this very minute, would He look at what I’m doing and turn away?