If Jesus Came Today: Would You Be Ready?

Think back over the last week—maybe even the last month. Think about the places you’ve been, the situations you’ve been in, the thoughts that have been in your mind, and the words that have come from your lips.

Has there been any time in that last week or month when you would not have wanted Jesus to come and find you in the state you were in—your actions, your thoughts, the frame of your heart at that moment? Was there any time you would have said, “I hope Jesus doesn’t come right now, because if He did, He’d find me in a place that just isn’t good”?

In Jesus’ day, the disciples and the religious leaders were very interested in that same question many people ask today: “When is that day? Lord, when is that day coming? Let me know so I can be prepared.” It would feel easier for us if we knew the exact time.

Imagine the message going out from the church: “We have it from a good source that Jesus is returning on such‑and‑such a date.” How would you live up until that day if you actually knew? Would you “run all your wild hairs” right up to the deadline? How would we live our lives?

The disciples asked Jesus, and His response was, “No one knows, not even the Son.” In this passage of Scripture, Jesus teaches, “I can tell you it’s going to be like it was in the days of Noah, but the exact day I don’t know.” He says, “Stay awake. Be prepared.” Then He continues that theme through the rest of the passage. In verse 44 He says, “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect Him.”​

To be ready means to be ready in our heart, in our mind, in our actions—to be ready to stand before Jesus. We do not know when that will be.

Think about this. Last Saturday morning, Kaleb pulled out of his driveway, just a short distance from here, getting ready for work. He came down the road by the county line and checked on as active in service. He drove one more mile, and that was the last of his time on earth.

Whether it is the appearing of Jesus to call His church away, or whether it is simply the way life happens, the question is the same: are you ready? Are you prepared?

Jesus talks about this coming day and makes it very clear: “There is an event coming. There’s an event coming when I shall return. There will be two people at the fire department; one will be taken, one will be left. There will be two people at a restaurant; one will be taken, one will be left. There will be people sitting at home having coffee; one might be taken and one left.” What will make the difference between the one taken and the one left? Are you prepared? Are you ready—for that time, and for any moment in life?

Jesus then talks about servants and masters. In verse 45 He asks, “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.”​

Who is He talking about? We could say, “Well, obviously He’s talking about preachers feeding us the gospel.” That fits. We could say He’s talking about moms and dads in the household. That fits too. In truth, He’s talking about anyone, but He does especially emphasize those who bear responsibility. Will you be found doing what Jesus has given you to do?

Then in chapter 25 we come to a scripture many of us know well: the parable of the ten virgins. Jesus uses it to talk about the time when He comes for His church.

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.” Let’s see what made the foolish foolish, and the wise wise. We might need to know that.

“When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.”​

Jesus uses this illustration because, in their day, weddings worked differently than ours. The bride and her family didn’t set a date, send out invitations, and run everything on a schedule. Everyone knew the marriage would happen, but it would happen when the bridegroom was ready. He and his friends might take three days, five days, maybe even two weeks to prepare. Then, at the moment he decided—“Now’s the time”—they would open the doors to the wedding hall. Everyone who was there and ready, especially the bridesmaids whose job was to tend to the wedding, had to be prepared for whenever the doors swung open.

They were to wait and be ready, just as the church should be waiting and ready at all times—the church meaning everyone who loves Jesus—waiting and ready with our lamps burning bright.

“At midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’” They were not prepared. They were not ready. They did not have enough.​

Half of them understood: “This could be a long, drawn-out process. I’m supposed to be ready and waiting when it happens. I’m going to make sure I have what I need and more, and I’m going to keep it that way.”

Then the cry came: “Here is the bridegroom! It’s happening now!” Those who weren’t ready said, “I’ve got to get something, so I’ll be ready!” But they missed it. While they were gone trying to find what they lacked, the bridegroom came. The doors were opened, those who were ready went in, and the doors were shut. They were not allowed into the wedding.​

Jesus gives these examples because He wants us to be ready. So how are we ready? Are you ready?

“Preacher, how am I supposed to be ready?” Jesus gave us a clue back in Matthew 22. The first step in being ready is the obvious one: accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior and giving yourself to Him.

When we have done that, something should naturally follow. The Pharisees, the teachers of the law, once tried to trap Jesus with a question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” He went on to say, “This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

If we truly love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, then there should be no room for other things to pull us away. There shouldn’t be room for us to choose badly where we go, what we do, or who we are with. If Jesus and the Father are first—if He fills our heart and our mind, if He is our first thought—then loving the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind will shape every decision. And if we love God to that extent, how can we not also love our neighbor and seek their good?

So the first step in being prepared is this: have you allowed the love of God to fill you from the deepest depths of who you are? Have you given your love wholly to God? Are you “sold out” in your love for Him?

The second step of being prepared takes us to Romans 12. When Jesus and the Scriptures use the word “love,” they are not talking about a mere feeling. Love is not just having a warm feeling about God. Love is a verb; it is an action. It calls us to do in love.

So how do we live out love as we follow God? Paul says it this way in Romans 12: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God—this is your spiritual worship.”

If we look inside ourselves and honestly examine how we use our bodies—the places we let them go, the things we do, the way we care for ourselves—are our bodies being used in a way that is consistent with the will of God? Do our physical actions amount to worship?

Paul continues: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that by testing you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

When is the last time you seriously asked, “Lord, who am I more in line with—the ways of the world, or the way You have taught us to live? What do I grab hold of more? What do I gravitate toward more: what the world offers, or the freedom You have given me in Jesus Christ?” Where am I, Lord? What is truly important in my life? What am I giving myself to?​

The psalmist’s prayer speaks to this: that the words of our mouth and the meditations of our heart would be pleasing in God’s sight. What if we constantly called out, “Lord, move me in such a way that the very words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart are of You and You alone. Give me more of You. Make me like John the Baptist, who said of Jesus, ‘He must increase, and I must decrease.’ Take away more and more of me and put more and more of Jesus in me, so I may be prepared.”

Perhaps one of the simplest ways to begin being prepared—especially if you struggle with certain places, habits, or thoughts—is to pause before you act and ask: “If Jesus were to come back in the midst of what I’m about to do, watch, say, or think, what would His response be? If He were coming just for me right now, what would He say? Would He weep to find me in this state—or would He smile?” Let that question shape your choices.

How would you be found?

Jesus tells us all: “We don’t know the day. We don’t know the hour. Be ready”—in your heart, your mind, and your soul. Be ready for that day.

Father, thank You. We all have days when our lives are like a stuffed backpack. We put things in there over time, and eventually things get misplaced, out of order, and we are no longer prepared. We are not ready.

Father, sometimes we have days when we have not prepared our hearts, and things are not in their proper place. Do not let us continue on in that state. Let Your Holy Spirit, if that is where we are—or if we’re up and down, some days good, some days not—move in our hearts to further prepare us. Make us strong in our love for You and in our work and action for You.

Because, Father, we do not know that day. I do not know if I will see Jesus in this physical life, descending on the clouds, or if some event here on earth will usher me into Your presence. But what I want—and what I hope we all want, and what I pray drives us in our relationship with You—is this: we want to be all that we can be for You, because You have given all for us.

So, Father, in Your believers, in Your church, if there are places where we are not prepared, ready us now. If we have been slacking about keeping prepared, put a holy urgency in us so that we will stay prepared and ready—not only for our own sake, but so that our lives will affect those around us who do not yet know You. May they see us in a living relationship with You and be drawn to conversation with You and to a relationship with You.

Father, we live in a world that is like the days of Noah. Let us hear Your word and be prepared. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.