My wife and I have spent much of the week cleaning, cooking, and preparing for an open house that we are hosting tomorrow evening. We have done all of these special preparations because we want our home and to look its best and we want to provide the best atmosphere for our guests. But, in spite of all the preparations that are required for tomorrow evening, I paused for a few hours tonight to enjoy a college basketball game. My Indiana Hoosiers were hosting the Kentucky Wildcats, who are currently ranked number one in the nation.
It was quite a game and I am still reeling from the excitement after my Hoosiers pulled off a win tonight. Although the Hoosiers played at home and had a huge crowd advantage in the game, it was still a very difficult game in which a win would not have been possible if they had not come out with a plan and a desire to win.
After the game I went back to work, sweeping and mopping the floor in the kitchen and began to think, to think about preparing. The Hoosiers had to prepare for the game this evening and I have to prepare for our guests tomorrow night. In the same way, much of my job is about preparing - preparing individuals for heaven. Likewise, much of our life is about preparing - preparing for eternity.
Mercy is a means of preparing; Ephesians 2:3-5 says: "All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
Grace is a means of preparing; Romans 3:23-24 says: "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Through the grace of Christ Jesus we are being prepared for an eternity with Him where there will be no more sin and no more suffering.
Repentance is a means of preparing; when we ask forgiveness for our sins and we turn from our wicked ways God promises to forgive us (2 Chronicles 7:14), yet if we turn back to sin God promises that He will still remain forgiving and will accept us if we repent again (Matthew 18:20-22)
Worship is a means of preparing; as we worship as individuals we prepare for the day when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:10-11), as we worship together we prepare for an eternity when we will gather with all tribes and peoples to worship The God that is worthy of our worship (Revelation).
In all these things, in all these ways, God is working to prepare us for an eternity in heaven that He desires to spread with us as His children. As we think of God's mercy and His grace, as we consider our repentance to and our worship of God, let us also focus on the preparation that God has for us and how we can best prepare for the eternity that He is preparing for us.
In John 14:2-3, Jesus says: "My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."
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