“Prepare to meet your God” is the theme for our reflection. To prepare means to make ready beforehand. Amos tells the Israelites to prepare to meet God. The Prophet Amos gives us an account of Isreal’s unrepentance (Amos 4:1-6) and the number of times God had plagued their land with the intention of shifting their attention to Him or causing them to return to Him. Amos 4:6-11 proves to us that the Israelites failed to repent regardless of the several hardships the Lord had visited upon them. Finally, they were to prepare to meet the Lord, ” “Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel, and because I will do this to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God.” (Amos 4:12)
Dear friend, how can we mere mortals encounter or meet the Lord unprepared? When we meet God two things happen, those who are unprepared through unrepentance and arrogance shall encounter God’s wrath and judgment, but those who prepare through repentance and humility shall experience His grace and salvation. Paul clearly summarised the outcome of our preparedness to meet God when he wrote to the Romans, “But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honour and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honour and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favouritism.” (Romans 2:5-11).
Beloved in the Lord, I believe strongly that we are in the dispensation of sufficient and abundant grace. God out of love and His desire for us to be prepared to meet Him and be saved on that day of reckoning, has already sent His Son to prepare us through repentance and faith. It is for this reason, Jesus assures us in John 3:16-18 that “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:16-18) In other words, God, having seen our unpreparedness to meet Him, sent Jesus to come into the world to save us and to ultimately prepare us to meet Him. Again Jesus makes it emphatically clear that “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6). My dear friend, are you prepared to meet your God if today happens to be your last day on earth? How prepared are you and what is the proof of your preparation? Remember that Church attendance alone is not the only guaranteed proof of our preparation as many of us erroneously believe. Church attendance offers us the opportunity to listen to the Word of God and to understand and do His will wherever we find ourselves. It is for this reason, Jesus assures us that “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21). Our preparedness to meet our God is fully dependant on our strong desire to do His will while we are still alive. Beloved in the Lord, there is no better time to be prepared to meet the Lord than now! Tomorrow is never promised, the only time you have is today. Do you remember the parable of the rich fool? After God had blessed His farm and he had a bountiful harvest, he said “I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ 20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:18-21. Dear friend, let us prepare to meet the Lord, reminds us that “He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind,
and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth — the LORD God Almighty is his name” (Amos 4:13) Shalom
PRAYER
Holy Spirit, we may not know the time of our departure from this world therefore lead and strengthen us to remain prepared to meet our God anytime we are called upon. Amen.
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