What should we do to be prepared? Part IV

Christ's return could happen at any moment. We've been discussing what we should do, to be ready for His return....

Yesterday, we talked about God being in control; it is He Who controls time, and it's He Who knows when Christ Jesus will return. We just barely touched on this: we should keep sharing the good news of salvation.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (II Peter 3:9, NIV)

The first thing that jumps out at us here, is that our Lord will perform every single promise that He has made to us.  No "ifs, ands, or buts," as my grandma used to say!
The Lord is not "slack" some translations say. The word used here can be translated either way -- it carries with it the picture of someone who is loitering, hanging around, not taking care of business, perhaps always dragging in late. (Grin) That's not our Father! The Lord is not slack about anything! He is always taking care of business....He is always on the job.

The eyes of the Lord are everywhere,    keeping watch on the wicked and the good. (Proverbs 15:3)

"I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (Genesis 28:15)

And He will always keep His Word.

The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.” (Jeremiah 1:12)

being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)

The second thing that shouts at us from this verse is that our Father God has perfect patience. The word used is "longsuffering."
Ahhh, patience.
How many of us realize that we need more?
How many of us are scared to pray for it, since we know the way to develop patience is to roll up experience points in dealing with things that make us impatient? (Grin)
In the name of transparency, I'm going to admit that patience is not my best feature. It's not what I do best. But the good news is that God can give us more patience!
God described Himself in this way, when He met with Moses on the mount:

And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness," (Exodus 34:6)

And may God, the source of encouragement and patience, give you the same attitude among yourselves as the Messiah Yeshua had, (Romans 15:5,CJB)

We simply need to ask God for what we need:

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:11)

James gave us a simple, three-part formula:

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, (James 1:19, NIV)

God is patient toward us. He doesn't give up on us. He doesn't get discouraged. He is patient.
His patience does have an end, though. The prophets of old and the book of Revelation tell us there is a time when there won't be any more opportunities to repent.
The time to turn away from our sins is now. The time to accept His gift of salvation, His mercy and His love, is right now.
Peter tells us unequivocally, God does not want anyone to perish. He wants all of us to come to repentance. He wants to have a relationship with all -- He wants all to go to heaven -- by turning to Jesus for forgiveness and cleansing.
How much does God want us to go to heaven? So much that He sent His only Son into the world to die for OUR sins. So much that Jesus humbled Himself to become a man, and took our sins to the cross. So much that the Holy Spirit is in the world today; if we are witnessing to other people, He will call them to His side.
We may think it's impossible, but there are people in our towns and in our communities that have never, ever heard of our Savior and His love. What an indictment of our lack of passion and our casual view of witnessing! Oh, how eager we should be to share the gospel!

As we finish our studies for this week, let's remember that the same Jesus Who died on the cross for us rose again and returned to heaven. And that same Jesus promised to come back! So until then, it's our joyful responsibility to be prepared: by stirring up our minds with scripture, by avoiding being sidetracked by scoffers, by counting on God's control and His timing, and by sharing the good news of His salvation.

It's a big job, but we can do it!
Holy Spirit, we know that with your help, we can stay on track and be prepared! Thank you for indwelling us daily and empowering us!