Getting Ready

I haven't been on an overseas mission trip in a while, but I have made quite of few of those journeys in the past. I've been to Africa six times and to different countries in South America a total of five times. Getting ready for such a trip takes a lot of preparation. Back in 1999, I spent a month in Tanzania working with Cy Stafford in the early days of the work he has done very successfully in the Arusha area. While getting ready for that trip, I experienced one of my "organized periods" which seem to come-and-go in my life. So I made a detailed checklist of things to take with me. Some of the items were recommendations from Cy; some from my own experience as a past missionary in West Africa. Anyway, I had it down to a science and both my pieces of luggage were crammed full with items I thought would come in helpful during a month in Africa. My attention to detail paid off as I ended up with several items that we needed (and which none of the other campaigners had thought to bring) such as plastic clothes line and clothes pins. I'll admit though that I brought quite a few things that were readily available at the grocery store down the street from where we were staying. It's always that way going to Africa because it's so hard to know what will be available and what won't. Even if you have been to a place before, you can get tricked because availability varies from time to time with many items.

Bob Pritchard wrote a bulletin article a few days ago comparing getting ready for an upcoming mission trip he was taking to the preparations Christians should be making for our journey into eternity. Jesus told the apostles that He was going to prepare a place for them (John 14:1-4). When He comes again, that place will be absolutely ready for its intended occupants. It will be in turn key condition. When I read the descriptions of the heavenly city in Revelation 21, I don't know how much of that to take literally and how much is figurative. I do know, however, that heaven is going to be perfect. There won't be any musty carpet or spotted windows in that heavenly abode. It will all be just what we need so that we have no disappointment, no yearnings, no frustrations. The plumbing won't ever get stopped up. The electricity won't ever go off. Everything will be just exactly right.

Here in this life, traveling can be frustrating. If you're driving, you have to contend with heavy traffic. Even a minor fender-bender can back up interstate traffic for miles. Traveling by air offers a whole plethora of possible aggravations from being hassled by airport security to late departures and missed flights to lost luggage. No one could blame you if you decided to just stay home and avoid all the fuss.

That heavenly journey, though, will go just right. Christ isn't our co-pilot; He is the pilot. His flights always arrive on time and without incident. Whenever the time is right, Jesus will come again. All that are in the grave will hear His voice and come forth (John 5:28-29). Those living on the earth will be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye (1 Cor. 15:50-52). Believe me, this is a journey we don't want to miss.

However, we have to be ready. If you're flying on a plane trip, chances are you have bought your ticket weeks in advance. You know exactly when the plane is scheduled to take off and you know that you have to be there at the gate ready to board the plane when the call goes out. They wait only a few minutes for you. On today's crowded flights, there is usually somebody waiting standby ready to grab your seat if the airline releases it.

We don't know when Jesus is coming to take us to Judgment Day. No timetables have been published. There are only two possible destinations on the itinerary. But we must be ready. Heaven is a prepared place for prepared people. If Jesus comes and we have not made the necessary preparations for the journey, we're in a hopeless state. There will be no more time and no more opportunities to get ourselves ready for eternity.

Wisdom says simply that every human being ought to get ready and stay ready to meet the Lord for eternity. Are you listening?