Get ready now because you won’t have time later

Yesterday evening started out like a normal Sunday night. I was getting ready for my workday in the morning (packing up goody bags for Christmas presents, if you must know). My folks were doing their own thing in another room.

That’s when a huge clap of thunder rattled the house.

We live in Kansas. A thunderstorm isn’t necessarily unusual–but a thunderclap that loud in the middle of December? That’s a bit strange. Even for us. But I wasn’t prepared for what I heard next: Dad shouting from the living room that our county had just been placed in a tornado warning.

A tornado warning? Seriously? Not just a “hey, watch out because you might get some bad wind” sort of a thing. But a Tornado Warning, which usually means there’s a tornado on the ground, and you need to get to shelter almost immediately (after you run outside and take pictures of it).

I dropped everything I was doing and verified that he was right. Yes. Big glaring red spot on the radar map. Heading straight for our house.

Of course.

Click for Video of the December 14, 2014 Tornado

The next thing I did? I grabbed my backpack from the corner and took it downstairs to the basement. My backpack has everything that really matters to me in it. My laptop with all my latest writing, and my flash drives with all my latest backups. Then, I put on my shoes and helped my mom carry down some valuables. Then, I went outside with Dad and watched the crazy amount of lightning.

And then, because I’m a hard-nosed, vicious, uncaring farm person, I grabbed my outdoor farm kitty (the unflappable and ridiculous Amelia Pond) and brought her inside to the basement too.

Just as we all got settled, waiting to jump under the stairwell with the twin mattress off the guest bed on top of us–the National Weather Service canceled the warning.

And that was it. We got some wind. More lightning and thunder. A bit of rain. But the rest of it went around us, or it died out before it got to us.

Some folks who don’t live in Kansas might think we were overreacting, but you don’t screw around with night tornadoes. Just like rain-wrapped tornadoes, you can’t see them, and you have to rely on the Doppler indications. By the time they’re close enough for you to feel the pressure drop in your ears, it’s probably too late.

Now, was it weird to have a possible tornado less than two weeks before Christmas? Sure. But it’s Kansas and anything can happen. Heck, they’re forecasting snow on Wednesday.

What I’ve learned after 20 years of living in this crazy, bipolar state is that you never take the weather for granted. Here it can change in the blink of an eye, and I’ve discovered that dyed-in-the-wool Kansans usually live very simple lives. Why? Because their material possessions may be blown away in a tornado a week before Christmas. If you live here, you have to be ready to dive into a shelter at a moment’s notice.

You have to be ready.

(not the tornado from yesterday)

Today’s verses are Matthew 24:42-44.

“So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.”

If you are a Christ-follower, you should know that this world isn’t our home. We’re just passing through. We will live forever in a place that God made for us Himself, but we don’t get to go there until Jesus comes back to get us.

The problem? We don’t know when He’s coming.

When you’re waiting for someone and you keep waiting and waiting and waiting, it’s tempting to lose focus. I mean, you’ve been waiting for so long, it feels like you’ll never stop. And then you start wondering if the person you’re waiting for is actually coming. What if you’ve been waiting for no reason? What if you’ve just been wasting your time watching for someone who never intended to come get you in the first place?

Christians, living on Earth with that mindset is like not believing that there can be a tornado at Christmastime.

That’s not to say that Jesus won’t take you if you aren’t ready. No, if you belong to Him, He’ll take you home when He comes back. But wouldn’t you hate to leave this life with unfinished business? Wouldn’t you have to leave people you love behind? Wouldn’t you hate losing your most precious possessions–your friends and family–because you didn’t take Jesus seriously enough?

Be ready all the time. Never stop watching for Him. He’s coming. Like a tornado at night. You might not be able to see Him coming, but you see the indications that the time is getting closer.

So don’t take it for granted. Don’t weigh yourself down living a complicated life with too many things that don’t matter. Live focused. Live simple. And secure the things that you never want to lose–like your own soul and like the souls of the people around you.

He’s coming. Nobody will expect Him. He’ll just be here. And then you’ll be gone.

Get ready now, because you won’t have time later.

The simple life

I love the Bible. It’s truly the most amazing book I’ve ever read, full of every sort of story you can imagine. Every story that’s ever been written has roots in the Bible, whether people believe it or not. Today’s verse is so clear, so simple, so wonderful — I’m not even sure what to say about it. . . . .

The verse of the day was actually a single verse, but I went ahead and included the whole paragraph where it’s found. And if you want a truly awesome read, you should look at the whole chapter.

1 Peter 3:13-17

 ¹³ Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? ¹⁴ But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. ¹⁵ Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. ¹⁶ But do this in a gentle and respectful way.^[c] Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. ¹⁷ Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong!

Don’t be afraid of threats. Worship God like He’s the only Person who matters to you, and if someone asks you why you are always full of hope, make sure you tell them why. Make sure you tell them that you have hope because of what Christ did for you. But . . . don’t beat them over the head with your salvation. Salvation isn’t a club to bludgeon people into submission. And the Word is a sword, but it’s not to stab unbelievers with. People who don’t believe in Christ aren’t our enemies. They’re just people God made who haven’t come back to Him yet, and usually the reason they left God and won’t come back to Him is because of Christians.

Live your life with a clear conscience. Always do what is right, even if it means that you will suffer for it. Live in a way that you have no regrets. Live a life looking forward and not mulling over things you’ve done that you can’t change. Live the way you’re supposed to — live the way Christ did — and don’t do anything to compromise your witness, and if you do compromise your witness, apologize. Do what you can to make it right.

And then, if people speak out against you, they won’t have any basis for it. Everyone who matters will know why you live the way you live, and everyone who matters will see the kind of life you live, and the people who say mean things about you will simply be branded as people who don’t know what they’re talking about.

We are called to be an unusual, peculiar people. People who love others in spite of what they do to us. People who help others less blessed than us even if we barely have enough to sustain ourselves. And, because of human nature, even if we live the way we’re supposed to, there will always be someone who hates us. The Bible says somewhere else that Christ was hated; so why do we expect to be loved if we live like He did?

I love verse 17. If we do wrong, we’ll suffer. That’s pretty obvious. So is it smart to do wrong and suffer for it when it’s not what God would have us do anyway? If doing wrong ultimately hurts us and hurts the people around us, why do it? Isn’t it better to do what is right, even if we’ll suffer for it? If we do what’s wrong, we have no defense. But if we do what’s right, God will back us up. And even though we might endure a little bit of suffering from people who don’t know what they’re talking about, in the end, we will have maintained our witness. Our consciences will be clear. And the people who are watching us (there are always people watching us) will see that we’re different, that we’re full of hope, and they’ll wonder why. And maybe, if we’re fortunate, they’ll ask us and we can tell them that we live for Christ and Christ alone.

Don’t be afraid. Live like Christ. Worship God. Know what you believe and why. And stick to it. 

It’s simple. It may not feel simple somedays, but it is.