Are You Ready?
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will
not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an
eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised
imperishable, and we will be changed.
– 1 Corinthians 15:51-52
The sound shattered the morning stillness. I turned in
time to see rubber flying and a sleek sports car jerking first one way and then
another as the driver tried desperately to control it. A blown tire, successful
efforts to keep the car from rolling and then a crash into the side of the
store.
It was over in seconds. That’s exactly how long it
takes for your life to change course forever.
Miracles happened. The normally busy intersection was
void in that moment of other vehicles. The crowded store just happened to have
no one parked on the side where the car hit. The wall of the store held up,
smashing the front of the car but not allowing it to enter the building where
unsuspecting shoppers went about their day.
No one died. We are thankful. Injuries can heal. Cars
can be repaired or replaced. Another day will dawn. There is still time.
But what if the end result had been different? What if
you had been the one driving? What if those seconds were your last on this
earth? Are you ready? Are you sure?
We always think we have more time. We always believe
that horrible things happen to someone else. We always plan like tomorrow is a
guarantee. Until it isn’t.
Paul warned the Corinthians that all could change in
an instant. That’s how Christ will return. There won’t be a warning. Two will
be at work and one will be taken and one will remain. There won’t be time to
get right with God, to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, to change behavior,
hearts, and minds.
This letter contained so much wisdom. Paul tells us
that love is patient and kind. He warns against the division amongst
themselves. They were so busy fighting each other that they were missing the
point. They were missing Christ.
It sounds a lot like Christians today. We are so busy
pointing fingers at other Christians, spewing hatred toward others, and protecting
our “rights,” that we miss the common core. We miss Jesus.
God knows your heart. At the end of the day, it doesn’t
matter how many times you quote the Bible if you don’t live it from your heart.
It doesn’t matter how earnest your prayers if your only goal is to mold His
will to your own. And it doesn’t matter how much you value yourself if you look
down on the broken, the lost, the hurting, and refuse to help.
The church in Corinth didn’t survive. Will we?
