Ye think not

Mat 24:44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.


Be ready.


We are taught as children to be ready to act in cases of emergency. Our schools have fire drills, and we're asked to go back to our homes and together with our family prepare an emergency plan should something happen. In hospitals they have fire drills, in many buildings they have emergency exercises and they conduct these drills and exercises to prepare people to on how they should react during an emergency-- they are taught how to be ready for the unexpected.


Christ's return for us isn't unexpected BUT… 'in such an hour as ye think NOT… the Son of man cometh.'


I don't know about you but I've heard more than once that the Bible is a bunch of nonsense and people who are waiting for Christ to return are delusional fools looking for a way to escape real life because they can't handle the pressure. Are those people who believe that way towards Christians (because ALL who are Christians are expecting Christ to return- other wise they're NOT Christians at all) are those people thinking about Christ's return? No. Christians have to be expecting Christ to return. To be a follower of Christ you have to believe in Him and all He said and He told us He would return someday. If you have any contact with any professed Christians who don't believe in Christ's return then you have to conclude they aren't really followers of Christ.


As followers of Christ we are waiting for Christ to return. Our thoughts are constantly on the fact our Savior will return to wipe evil away. We live among evil, it surrounds us. However, there are a lot of people who do this…


Isa 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!


Those who call evil good don't necessarily believe the world is all that bad and in need of a Savior. As Christians we KNOW that the world is evil and in desperate need of a Savior and our Savior's return to do away with evil forever. We are expecting Christ to return, hoping for His second coming. Yet the Bible tells us that… ' in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh'.


We have to watch for Him always! We have to never believe there is a time He won't come to take us home with Him. I'm not talking we have to be ready for some secret rapture. The Bible tells us EVERY eye shall see Him, that He'll come as lightening shining from East to West, so obviously His return for us will be very visible. We have to watch, but even for those watching, even for those who are ready Christ's return will be at a time when we aren't expecting. Seems kind of contradictory doesn't it? Be expecting Him always and yet He will return ' in an hour as ye think not'. All will be asleep yet some wake up and are ready because they've prepared for Him before sleeping. Remember that parable? Matthew 25:1-13. All sleep. The difference is in the preparation. We won't expect Christ to come when He does, even if we are expecting His return. We need to be ready though, yes, we need to be ready at ALL times. Even if we're sleeping we need to be ready. Just as emergency plans are taught to us so we're ready at any time, we must be ready for Christ's return at any time. If a fire breaks out in your house in the middle of the night and you wake up to the smoke alarm- because you've planned what to do ahead of time you can spring into action. When we are woken up from our slumber when Christ returns we will go to meet Him with oil in our lamps, our lamps burning brightly because we know to have them ready, we know to be prepared for His return.


No, we can't know the hour of Christ's return, and when we might be lulled into believing His return is not just yet, we can still be ready for Him, ever ready for Him.


By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, by His love and through His righteousness now and forever!


Amen.