Something to Think About #1

Beginning today, I am going to try to give you a brief Bible reflection on Friday mornings. I will let Bible Gateway (biblegateway.com) chose the scripture, and I will simply share with you where the Spirit drives my thoughts. Below is today’s scripture.

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.1 Thes 4:16-17 esv

This scripture parallels the scripture from 1 Corinthians 15 that I am working with this coming Sunday. The Apostle is sharing a core belief of our faith; that Jesus will return, the dead will be raised, and the living will join them. And WE all will be with the Lord.

Do you remember the movie from the early 90’s called Space Jam? There was a song from 2 Unlimited that became very popular, and it only had one lyric repeated several times. That single lyric is the question that jumped out when I read this passage:

“Ya’ll ready for this?“

Am I ready for this? Are ya’ll ready for this? If Jesus were to appear today, am I prepared to be caught up in this incomprehensible event? At this point I am hymning and hawing that “I need more time to get ready…to prepare…to plan.”

Last Sunday, Jenise and I went to hear a friend and colleague of mine preach. During the sermon, he invoked the lyrics from John Lennon’s Beautiful Boy: “Life is what happens to you, while you’re busy making other plans.” If I am honest with myself, there is really no way I can plan, prepare, and be ready for Jesus’ return. I am hopelessly human and too easily distracted by our own stuff. Thank God I have a Savior who has it covered in spite of my shortcomings.

Jesus asks me to simply live my life in him, and he will be enough. And if he is my LIFE, then he will happen even when I am busy making other plans.

Let us just cling to Jesus in our lives with the expectancy that one day he will arrive with the fanfare worthy of the King of the Universe! Come Lord Jesus, come!