Being Prepared to Stand before God

November 20 2011Did you ever get caught being unprepared? Like when you have a flat tire and discover your spare is flat too. I thought I was prepared for marriage simply because I was madly in love with Susie, but having grown up in an all boys home I had no idea what it meant to live fulltime with a female. I loved the idea of becoming a dad, but I sure was unprepared when it came to knowing how to be father.Being prepared means you have thought ahead and took specific actions that rendered you prepared. When a few weeks ago my bottom radiator hose popped off and my car quickly got really hot, I was glad that I was prepared. Living out in the country, with spotty cell phone reception, and some roads that often have little to no traffic, I put an emergency box in each one of our cars (some basic tools, a gallon of water, oil, transmission fluid and funnel, wire, duct tape, jumper cables, rags, toilet paper, a blanket, flashlight, matches, etc.). It sure came in handy that day, and I have used it several times before for helping someone who was stranded but was unprepared.A couple of years ago Susie and I went through Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace university course. He recommends that part of a good financial planning and habits is to establish an emergency fund, so you are prepared for emergencies and unexpected expenses (I highly recommend taking this course). Now, agreeing that this is a good idea, thinking that I should do something like that, will not bring an emergency fund into existence, and cause me to be prepared. I had to actually do something, adjust my thinking, change my spending habits, and grow some saving habits.Of all the things to be prepared for none is more important than being prepared to stand before God. We all will, without exception, “Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God” Romans 14:12 (NLT); “… it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment—“Hebrews 9:27 (HCSB). Now there is a vast difference between knowing you should be prepared and actually being prepared, and there is a vast difference between thinking you are prepared and actually being prepared. I have heard all kinds of opinions in regards to being prepared to stand before God. The trouble is that just having an opinion doesn’t prepare you any more than thinking you should put some jumper cables in your car or begin to save some money. God’s written word, the Bible, is very clear when it comes to preparing to stand before God, when it comes to preparing for eternity. You have to be “in Christ” (1 Thessalonians 4:16, get a Bible and read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:28, and John 3). Believing in Christ, following Christ, living for Christ, and serving like Christ is the only way to be prepared for God, everything else will leave you stranded, will make you come up short, the day you appear before God. By all means – prepare.To God be all glory,love you, Pastor Hans