Luke 17:26-37 (ESV)
The Lord said, “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife. 33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. 35 There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left. 36 Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.” 37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”
Glory to Jesus Christ!
I remember when I was a lifeguard at a city pool how important it was to keep up my fitness. We were required to complete fitness tests regularly in order to show that we were fit enough to pull someone out of the pool, support them in the water until help arrived, swim a long distance to get some and bring them back etc. But despite the amount of physical training that went into being a lifeguard, it was nothing compared to the operational drills we had to do. We would continually practice lock-down procedures, chlorine leak protocols, fire drills etc. Our minds had to be sharp and we had to be alert because we just didn’t know when something could go wrong. Complacency was a big problem to be combatted.
We as Christians are waiting for something good to happen, and yet it will be something bad for the forces of evil. Our Lord will return at a time that we don’t expect and so we must not be caught spiritually complacent. The time of judgement will be at hand, will we be prepared? Can we honesty say that at this very moment we are ready to meet the Lord?
One way of being prepared for the unexpected is to be prepared for what we can actually expect. Responsibly guarding the swimmers in a pool in this moment makes us more attentive if something were to come up. How are your preparations going for celebrating the Nativity of the Lord this year? Take some time to see where you are at in this preparation and ask God to make you more vigilant in every moment.