I had not seen my darling wife for a long time. But she was on her way to me. And I had made preparations for her arrival. I had for some days exerted considerable time and energy in painting, cleaning, dusting, sweeping, mopping, and tidying the apartment. Just before the hour of her arrival I had a sumptuous meal ready. Then, being quite tired, and having a few minutes before the time to depart for the airport, I sat in an easy chair to watch the news on the television. I was suddenly awakened by the telephone ringing, and then heard my darling ask, “Where are you?”

May I not be so slack in being ready for the coming of my Lord!

But, sadly, many will be so. They have in the past exerted considerable time and energy in what they think is proper preparation for being ready for the coming of Christ, then rested in what they have done, and therefore will be asleep when He returns. There is the decisionist, who “decided for Christ” and was told that was sufficient, and sleeps in his decision. There is the moral reformer, who cleaned up his life and sleeps in his reformation. There is the self-righteous, who believes he has made himself blameless before God, and sleeps in his personal righteousness. There is the “carnal Christian”, who was told he may accept Jesus as Savior but not as Lord, and sleeps in “once saved, always saved”. Manmade religion has manufactured many such places in which one may be deceived into thinking that he sleeps in confidence of being received by Christ when He returns.

Happily for me, my sleep proved only to be embarrassing. Unhappily for those cited above, being “foolish virgins”, their sleep will prove to be fatal (Matthew 25:1-13).

“Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober” (2 Thessalonians 5:6).  Daniel Parks