Are You Ready?

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Some people love the Christmas season. They enjoy anything and everything about Christmas. They may listen to Christmas music year round. They may put up their Christmas tree before Halloween and not take it down until after Valentine’s Day. They might leave their Christmas lights on their house until the bulbs break. They could even have an app that notifies them how much time is left until Christmas, down to the very second. You may not love Christmas as much as these people do, but you probably prepare for the holiday season.

Christmas is a big event for many people. There is, however, a larger event that you should be notified about and for which you should make preparation. This event we know as Judgment Day. We do not know everything that is going to happen on Judgment Day. We do not know when Judgment Day will fall on our calendars or if we will even be alive, but it is certain Judgment Day will come as Jesus taught in Matthew 24:36. Every person will be there, and everyone will acknowledge the Creator, according to Romans 14:11.

The Bible teaches there will be two groups of people on Judgment Day. There will be those who have made successful preparations for life after physical death. They did this by obeying God’s instructions. The Bible calls them sheep. There will be people who have not made any preparations for eternity. They did what they wanted to do, or they did what everyone else around them was doing. These people are called goats. You can read about these groups in Matthew 25:31-33.

The goats will go to a place called Hell. In Matthew 25:30, we read that Hell is a place of outer darkness and, “In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Meanwhile, the sheep will go to a place called Heaven. Heaven is described in this way in Revelation 21:4: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” I do not know about you, but I want to be a part of the group of people called sheep if that means going to Heaven. Any person can easily conclude Heaven is the preferable place. So, how do you make preparations to get to Heaven?

First, you have to become a child of God, that is, a Christian. Many people claim to be a child of God, and they say they love Him. However, Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Do you truly love God? In order to obey, you must hear God’s word (Romans 10:17). You have to believe Jesus is the Son of God (John 3:16). You must confess that belief before others (Matthew 10:32). You must also turn away from your sins and be immersed in water (Acts 2:38). After we follow these steps, we have to stay on the narrow road in order to get to Heaven. God tells us in Revelation 2:10: “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

It really does not matter when you decide to shop for your Christmas gifts or put up your Christmas tree. What does matter is making preparations for Judgement Day. The best time to make eternal preparations is now.  Are you ready for that great day?