Recently I sat through a thirty minute sermon admonishing us to be ready for Jesus to come. I kept waiting for the speaker to tell us what we had to do to be ready. If I am going to be told to do something I want to be told how to do it. However, he never did. He inferred it had something to do with our diets, both physical and mental. While I do not want to put down on the importance of both of those arenas, they are extremely important for physical and mental health, which are of essential importance for living the abundant life, they are not the key ingredient to being ready for Jesus to come.
The key to being ready is to recognize our total need for grace and to accept His gift. Paul is very clear about this in Ephesians 2. He wrote, God “hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Paul presses the issue even harder in Galatians 5. There he says we actually fall from grace the moment we alter God’s plan by adding any other requirement other than grace. It is difficult for us. Our pride wants so badly to contribute something other than a receptive heart. However, that is all we can do. It is the key to being ready. The speaker was correct. We do need to be ready. Just tell us the simple truth regarding how wonderful is His grace.
Written by Roger Bothwell on August 8, 2011
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124 St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org