YOU MUST BE READY

SCRIPTURE READINGS GENESIS 15:1-6 HEBREWS 11:8-16 LUKE 12:35-40 SUNDAY REFLECTION You must be ready is the theme for our Sunday reflection. To be ready means to be in a suitable state for action or situation. It also means to be fully prepared. The theme can be rephrased as “you must be fully prepared to experience…

Jean-Paul Agidi

Aug 7, 2022

3–5 minutes

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SCRIPTURE READINGS

GENESIS 15:1-6

HEBREWS 11:8-16

LUKE 12:35-40

SUNDAY REFLECTION

You must be ready is the theme for our Sunday reflection. To be ready means to be in a suitable state for action or situation. It also means to be fully prepared. The theme can be rephrased as “you must be fully prepared to experience or encounter the glory or the coming of the Lord”. We shall focus on the following points?

Faith enables us to be ready for the Lord.
We must be watchful as a sign of readiness for the Lord.

First, faith enables us to be ready for the Lord. Beloved in the Lord without faith we cannot be in readiness for the fulfilment of His promises and encounter His glory in our lives. In Genesis 15:1-6, Abraham through faith was ready to receive God’s promise of a son, “And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:4-6). Again, Hebrews 11:1 tells us that “… faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Therefore without faith, we are inadequately ready to experience the glory of God and to witness the manifestation of His promises and will in our lives. We are further admonished by the writer of Hebrews that “…without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11 6). Faith is indispensable in our readiness to encounter the Lord. We find several examples of people who had faith in the Lord and experienced the earthly glory while they await the future glory of the Lord. ” These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”(Hebrews 11:13-16). Remember in your challenges or adversities you are not alone. The Lord is with you just as He was with Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Hannah, Deborah, David and the host of His servants. In every endeavour or activity, we embark upon, we must be ready by having faith in the Lord because it is the only way we can please Him and experience His glory.

Second, in addition to having faith as a sign of our readiness or preparedness to meet the Lord, we must be spiritually awake or watchful. Jesus admonished us that “Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Our readiness must manifest in our faith and watchfulness. Anywhere you find yourself, let your faith and actions show overwhelmingly that you are being watchful in anticipation of the advent of the Lord. Be ready by being watchful as you do your business, as you seek your promotion, as you seek greener pastures. Be guided by your faith and the will of God in everything you do as a believer.

In summary, faith is essential in our readiness for the Lord. Again, watchfulness must accompany our faith to complete our readiness to meet the Lord. May the Holy Spirit strengthen our faith and make us watchful even as we render our service to Him as stewards of His grace and blessings. Amen.