Dear Friends,
I doubt most of us are prepared! I am dead serious! I am not whistling in the dark and most certainly do not have my head in the sand. A shepherd and fig-picker by the name of Amos was called by God to deliver this message – “prepare to meet your God.”
Amos’ message centered on issues of social justice, righteousness, and the consequences of moral and ethical wrongdoing. His prophecies were delivered during a time of relative prosperity in Israel, but this prosperity was marked by extreme social inequality and moral decay. The rich and powerful were exploiting the poor and marginalized, and religious rituals were becoming empty formalities divorced from true devotion to God.
What’s new? Not much has changed and there is nothing new under the sun. I do have a few haunting questions:
- Do you know the questions on the Lord’s final exam?
- Do you know what kind of clothes you need to be wearing when you meet God?
- Do you know what you will say when you stand before the King of Kings face to face?
Last Sunday the first verse in our study from John 19 reminded us that it was the “day of preparation.” Every day for those of us who claim to be Jesus’ followers should be “a day of preparation.” If you are a parent or grandparent, you should be preparing your children and grandchildren for “meeting God.”
Last Sunday Jesus was laid in the tomb of a rich man by the name of Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews. This Sunday the first verse in chapter 20 states that, “Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb.”
My message title is the same as last week, “Imagine If?” Imagine if there was “no resurrection” of the Lord Jesus from the dead! Think about the implications. Please read and reread the first 18 verses of John 20 as it will help in “preparing to meet God.” For indeed there is a “prepared” day for you!
Because Jesus is alive,
Glen