Are You Prepared?

I’m ready… and waiting.

The weather man says the snow storm is coming.  They’re certain of it.  And so, the preparations began.  I went to the grocery store (along with every other person in my town) to get the essentials for a good snow storm – bread, milk, hot chocolate and marshmallows, and a movie rental.  The Department of Transportation pretreated the roads.  All local city and county schools closed in preparation.  My kids are doing their homeschool work so they can play when the snow arrives.  I’ve rescheduled Sparky’s vet appointment so that I don’t have to take three kids and a nervous dog out in the snow. We’ve made contingency plans for babysitting in the event that tonight’s company dinner still occurs but the babysitter doesn’t want to brave the weather.  I’m even starting to plan for tomorrow.

And, yet we wait… not a flake has fallen from the sky.

As I thought about all the preparations we make when there’s the mention of snow, I wonder how often we prepare for eternity.  The Bible says we should be prepared.  Yet, what do we do to make such preparations?  And what does that really look like?

I believe it means living our lives in a way that puts God first – when our day begins with Him, ends with Him and is lived for Him in the hours in between.  That doesn’t mean we achieve perfection and it doesn’t mean that we withdraw from society and spend all of our day in prayer and meditation (although those are good things and shouldn’t be neglected).  What it means is going out in the world and loving others… in a tangible way.  It means extending a little extra grace to those that are difficult to love.  It means serving others and offering a helping hand.  It means being patient with a strong-willed two year old and disciplining in love, not anger.  It means overlooking an offense and choosing to forgive. 

I pray that as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, we’ll consider how He lived His life and follow His example of love.  As we do, we’ll be preparing for eternity.

 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:37-39

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