Living in a State of Readiness

Here is California, we are always being told that the "Big One" is slated to come at any moment. Living in an earthquake prone state, it's a fact of life to experience one. In fact, you can almost tell if you're a native Californian from a tourist by how one handles their earthquake experience. If you're a lot like me, we've had so many in our life time, we will sit when we feel one happening, and wait to see just how strong it will be. Most of the time it's the chandler rocking from side to side or a rolling wave-like motion, or even what can feel like a large truck passing in front of our home. Most of the time they are over within 30 seconds to a couple of minutes.

But specialists have been telling us, that one day, we will experience what is known as the "Big One." Something along the lines of 7.0 or greater that will cause quite a bit of damage and mostly impact our commuter freeways since most of us, drive a considerable amount from home. There is Earthquake insurance you can buy as a rider on your homeowners or renter's policy that will insure your personal property against earthquake damage that is often times not part of your insurance policy. There are Earthquake preparedness kits that promise food, water, and medical supplies for about 3 days or more in portable back packs you can store around your home, office or in the trunk of your car.

Yet, here I sit at 51 years of age, not the slightest bit prepared. Why? Part of me, doesn't believe it will ever happen, so why bother. Another part of me, wonders if one goes through all that preparation, what is the likelihood that you will even be in a place to be able to access your earthquake kit anyway. If you're at home, what if it's buried under debris? Same goes for the office or your car. So why don't we take these threats with the seriousness they were meant for?

I guess the same could be said of the reason a lot of Christians and believers in Jesus Christ are told to be in a state of readiness for the day the Lord will return for his chosen believers, known as the rapture. Why don't we take that as serious?

Is it because we have heard the rumors for so long yet nothing has happened so far? Is that seriously something we want to be waiting for the last moment to make preparations for?

I mean I know where my future home will reside in eternity whether I am raptured out of this life or are taken out through physical death. But isn't that an apathetic way to live my life? Believing I will have more time to make some major changes?

It's like telling yourself that if you win the lottery, you will do more to help those less fortunate than yourself. Only why is it when we get a slight bump in pay, don't we take that additional money and use it to help those people out in whatever way we can? Why instead to we add a few more luxuries or vacations to our ever growing pile of stuff we won't be able to take with us anyway. In fact, if we were to die right this moment and we had no living relatives, all that stuff would be given away or thrown out. That is how important all that stuff is.

We need to be living like Enoch did at the ripe old age of 65, in that he lived his life so closely connected with God that God simply took him away. Perhaps it was based on the name of Enoch's son, Methuselah which meant that judgement would come on the earth when he died or "one who has brought death into the world", so poor Enoch never knew when that day was coming. Every little sniffle or sickness that child had, kept Enoch on his toes because he never knew when God's judgement would come. Little did he know that Methuselah would live to be 900 years old before the flood came.

We need to begin to make changes right now, at whatever point we are at in life right now. The Bible has foretold that the generation that witnessed the Jewish people returning to their homeland in Israel in 1948 would not pass away without seeing the return of Christ. Does that mean that Jesus isn't coming until the very last person who was living when that event dies? The Bible doesn't say, it simply warns of a generation that would not pass away, and my dear friends and family, that could very well mean our parents or grandparents generation.

Do you realize where we sit on the cusp of the end times?

Does the fact that in all of earth's history there have only been 4 blood moon events and the last one is occurring this September 13th?

Does it make you wonder what the significance is between these 4 blood moons occurring on each of Israel's festival days like the Feast of Trumpets? Not to mention an eerie solar eclipse that has happening right in the middle of these blood moon events?

Is God announcing something coming very soon?

It's possible. The Bible warns what the end times would look like. That there will be signs in the sky and none more observable than what has been happening while people go about their days as if nothing is out of the ordinary.

Luke 21: 10-12 NIV - "  Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.
“But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name."


With the threat of ISIS and the recent beheadings happening all around the globe, are we not seeing such signs of people being persecuted for their faith in Jesus? The Bible predicted this is when the rapture would occur, when people least expect it. So what should we be doing?

We should be doing all we can to make sure we are living up to whatever plans God has in our life. If He has called you to do something, you need to be answering that call. Whether its  helping out in the mission field, helping out in the church or ministering in your own way to the "church" that you are responsible for, stay at home moms, working moms and dad, we have an important impact in our families and we will be held accountable for how we spent that time.

Just like the parable Jesus told of the worker in the vineyard in Matthew 20, who paid his people the same whether they worked a whole day or just an hour. Everything we have belongs to God. It's all His, we need to make sure we are being the very best stewards with everything He has blessed us with. We need to make sure we are making plans with God's will in mind, not merely asking God to bless our plans.

The clock is ticking, and it's time to wake up. Will you answer the call and begin to prepare?