Yesterday we explored the example God sets for us in being prepared and I, Anne, revealed my propensity for preparation (that admittedly is sometimes is over the top). If you didn’t read yesterday’s post, I highly encourage you to start there!
What is the most important thing to prepare for in life? Repeatedly in the Gospels Jesus tells us to be prepared for His coming.
Matthew 24:36, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.”
Matthew 24:44, “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
John 14:1-3, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
Jesus has gone on to prepare a place for us in Heaven so we can be with Him forever. In 1 John 2:28, John tells us what we need to do to prepare for that eternal home.
“And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.”
This is the most important preparation a believer can make in her life – abiding in Christ in preparation for her eternal home in Heaven. If you never prepare for anything else in your life, prepare for this. This preparation changes the present and affects the future.
Exactly how do believers abide in Christ? Author Harriet Beecher Stowe said it this way, “How does the branch bear fruit? Not by incessant effort for sunshine and air, not by vain struggles. . . . It simply abides in the vine, in silent and undisturbed union, and blossoms, and fruit appear as of spontaneous growth. How then shall a Christian bear fruit? By efforts and struggles to obtain that which is freely given? . . . No: there must be a full concentration of the thoughts and affections on Christ, a complete surrender of the whole being to Him, a constant looking to Him for grace.”
We prepare for His coming and abide in Him by:
1. Concentrating our thoughts and affections on Christ
2. Completely surrendering ourselves to Him
3. Constantly looking to Him for grace and forgiveness
This is the most important preparation we can do – it prepares us for eternity and provides us with comfort and guidance for today.
Which one of these three tips for abiding are you focusing on today?
Author: Anne Bosarge