This past weekend was extremely cold. I know you probably didn’t need me to tell you that, but it’s true. Temperatures like that are not common but they’re also not unusual. There’s usually a stretch of days every couple of years that the temperatures drop to significantly low numbers. One of the things that made this one so dramatic was how mild the winter had been so far. It hardly felt like winter until it slammed into us with single digit temps and snow.
Hopefully you fared ok during the storm. Thankfully, we have been blessed with technology that warns us that a storm like this is coming. When you know that it’s coming and how bad it will be, you can make the necessary preparations ahead of time. Even though you know the stores will be packed with people stocking up on groceries, ice melt, heaters, blankets, and gasoline, you choose to brave the “storm” at the store, rather than the storm outside. You don’t want to get out in it if you don’t have to.
This is our first winter in our new house, so this is the first time we’ve had to prepare this house for extremely cold weather. Each house is different, and you get a better idea of what needs to be done with each winter. But the basic things that you have to do are the same: drip the faucets, try to cover drafty windows and doors, move the firewood closer to the door, use extra blankets and wear extra clothes so that the central heat doesn’t have to work too hard.
All of this preparation was for a storm that was expected to last only a few days. And it was totally necessary and right for us to do it. We want to protect our house and our family, but in the end, those are temporary issues. Those are physical and material concerns, that only last for this lifetime. All of us have eternal preparations that we have to address.
There are things that we need to be doing each day to prepare for the daily struggles and temptations of life: time in the Word, time in prayer, time in fellowship and discipleship with fellow believers. We know from experience that those struggles and temptations will come.
But we don’t know when the Lord will return. We know that He will, but he hasn’t told us when. We can’t wait until the last minute to prepare, because we don’t have an app or a news station giving us hour-to-hour updates on when He will come back. We have to be prepared now. Jesus tells us to “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home…Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes…You must also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Luke 12:35-40)
We don’t know when He will return, but we want to be prepared when he does. And we want others to be prepared as well. So consider how you are spending your time, money, and resources. Is it preparing yourself or others for eternity, or is it serving your temporary, fleeting pleasures and desires? We don’t want to be caught off guard. There’s too much at stake.
-Kendall Harris
Hopefully you fared ok during the storm. Thankfully, we have been blessed with technology that warns us that a storm like this is coming. When you know that it’s coming and how bad it will be, you can make the necessary preparations ahead of time. Even though you know the stores will be packed with people stocking up on groceries, ice melt, heaters, blankets, and gasoline, you choose to brave the “storm” at the store, rather than the storm outside. You don’t want to get out in it if you don’t have to.
This is our first winter in our new house, so this is the first time we’ve had to prepare this house for extremely cold weather. Each house is different, and you get a better idea of what needs to be done with each winter. But the basic things that you have to do are the same: drip the faucets, try to cover drafty windows and doors, move the firewood closer to the door, use extra blankets and wear extra clothes so that the central heat doesn’t have to work too hard.
All of this preparation was for a storm that was expected to last only a few days. And it was totally necessary and right for us to do it. We want to protect our house and our family, but in the end, those are temporary issues. Those are physical and material concerns, that only last for this lifetime. All of us have eternal preparations that we have to address.
There are things that we need to be doing each day to prepare for the daily struggles and temptations of life: time in the Word, time in prayer, time in fellowship and discipleship with fellow believers. We know from experience that those struggles and temptations will come.
But we don’t know when the Lord will return. We know that He will, but he hasn’t told us when. We can’t wait until the last minute to prepare, because we don’t have an app or a news station giving us hour-to-hour updates on when He will come back. We have to be prepared now. Jesus tells us to “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home…Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes…You must also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Luke 12:35-40)
We don’t know when He will return, but we want to be prepared when he does. And we want others to be prepared as well. So consider how you are spending your time, money, and resources. Is it preparing yourself or others for eternity, or is it serving your temporary, fleeting pleasures and desires? We don’t want to be caught off guard. There’s too much at stake.
-Kendall Harris
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