Living Prepared

Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage—right up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.”  Luke 17:26–27

Life changes when you least expect it. No one has, “Get a call saying you have a tumor,” on their calendar. Very few people schedule their car crashes, and those that do aren’t who I’m addressing here. It will be the same when Jesus returns. The Bible tells us that no one knows the day or the hour that Christ will return except God the Father (Matthew 24:36). Lots of people have claimed to know, but so far, none of them have been right.

But just like with a car crash, we can do things to be prepared. First, with a car, we are supposed to carry insurance. In our State it’s the law. Most of the time it seems like an unnecessary expenditure, a waste of money. Then a crash happens and all of a sudden you’re really glad you checked that box for uninsured motorist or gap coverage! With Jesus, we have our “insurance” with Him by admitting we can’t save ourselves and trusting Him instead. I talk more about that here.

Next, in a car, you have to wear your seat belt. I hate the foreshadowing in movies and TV shows when they have a scene in a car with a family where someone, a kid or a mom, takes off their seat belt “just for a minute.” You always know what’s coming next. With our spiritual life, I kind of see our daily Bible time as our seat belt. When we get into a crash, it’s that truth we’ve taken in regularly that holds us steady and keeps us from flying through the windshield of life.

Finally, you see a big difference between newer and experienced drivers. After years, or even decades, of driving, your system is attuned to the world around you. You’re aware of things you don’t even know: how close the cars around you are, how hard you need to press the brake pedal to stop in time, you might even be able to guess that another driver will merge before they turn on their blinker. This awareness can ideally help you avoid an accident, but if one does occur, it might help you stay a little bit safer. Perhaps you swerve a little, or even let up on the brakes. As we’re paralleling our spiritual life, this matches up with daily walking with God. What does that mean? Well, as I go through my day, I do it with Jesus. I talk with Him. I sing praise songs. I rest in Him. I ask Him questions. The more I interact with God, the more I’m able to recognize His voice, His Spirit, as He responds to me. This isn’t something that you can conjure up on command when you need it in an emergency. It’s something that has to be nurtured and developed over time. Just like driving experience.

Here's the Thing: We don’t know when we will need insurance, or we would buy it the day before and save ourselves all that money. So why do so many people put off giving their hearts to Jesus thinking they’ll do it later, when it’s time?