Are You Ready?

"But you, brothers, are not in darkness, so that day will not surprise you like a thief. All of you are citizens of the light and the day; we do not belong to night and darkness. Let us not, therefore, sleep as others do, but remain alert and sober." - 1st Thessalonians 5:4-6

I heard this reading at church on Sunday and immediately I pictured myself before God. I stood before Him and what do I have to say? Nothing! All of my life, my actions, my thoughts are all clearly before Him. There is nothing left to say or do. All that exists is just me, as I am, before Him.

In this letter, Paul writes with so much confidence: he is ready to stand before God, but are you? I can't say that I am, and if you can, then you're lying to yourself. And if you're like me and see you have work to do, then wake up and do it, what are you waiting for? Each of us *knows* if we're on the right track or not. We don't need to think about it. And we each know what we need to work on but we keep putting it off or waiting for something to happen in order to change. But the reality is, when you stand before God, you can't go back and change anything. Would you be ready as you are now? When you stand before God, all you have is who you are right now. Is that enough for you? What can you tell Him that will justify any moment that you did not put Him first? Or any moment that you did not do what you knew was right? If you know you should be a certain way, then why aren't you doing something about it? When you see yourself before the presence of God, what will truly matter except for following what you know in your heart you should be doing right now? See, I have a lot going on now - work, school, wedding plans, etc. - but if for any moment, I put any of those things before my commitment to God, I lose. My time, my life, is what I choose to do with it. I prioritize according to what matters to me. And it's the same with you, no matter how busy you think you are. When you stand before God, which of your plans were really priorities? Will you be able to stand confidently before Him like Paul? Or do you need to wake up?

Today's Prayer:
Father, I want to stand before You one day and feel that I have listened to You and I have followed You to the best of my abilities. I want to be able to say that I put You first and I looked for You even when I was busy, even when I was tired, and even when my faith was weak. Give me the grace to stay on Your path always. In Jesus' Name we pray, amen.