Ways to Prepare for Christ’s Return Day 1: Live as Though Jesus’ First Coming Mattered
(Mark Chapter 13)
Did you ever embarrass yourself because you were not prepared for an event? For example, because you didn’t understand what it meant to prepare properly, you might have presented the worst seminar in the history of your business.
But you could do much worse — You could go into the next life unprepared.
Jesus talks about our preparation for his return in Mark Chapter 13. After Jesus prophesied the destruction of the Temple, three disciples wanted to know more about the prophecy, asking, “When will these things happen, and how will we know when they are about to happen?” (13:4, paraphrased). But before answering their question, Jesus answers a much more important question — one which they did not ask. That question is, “Considering this future destruction, how should we live?”
Jesus’ first instruction on how to live is, “See that no man leads you astray” (13:5). He then goes on to tell how imposters of Christ would try to deceive the believers. The disciples probably wondered how an imposter could deceive them. They had spent months, likely years, under Jesus’ teaching — but Jesus warned that they might be deceived by an imposter! We must ask ourselves the same question: “Would we be deceived by an imposter?”
I doubt that a person could be deceived by someone impersonating their spouse. That’s because a person knows their mate, and their mate knows them, on a daily basis.
In the same way, we avoid being deceived by an imposter of Jesus Christ by knowing the real Jesus! The apostle Paul prayed, “that I might know him and the power of his resurrection” (Philippians 3:10). The word “know” indicated personal experience. Paul sought such intimate knowledge of Jesus that he was willing to “share in his sufferings.” With that intimacy, he could not be deceived by an imposter.
With that knowledge of our Redeemer, Paul could say that he trusted Christ for the future. “But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me” (2 Timothy 1:12).
When Jesus tells us how to live at the end of Mark 13, he says, “Stay awake!” That sounds like the “Stay woke” expression used in today’s social justice matters. But in these instructions, Jesus is telling us to “Stay woke” in spiritual matters. That means to:
● remember that Jesus our Savior is also our Lord.
● be continually aware of His return and of the coming Kingdom of Christ.
● live like we know our Savior — with a very close relationship.
● know him so well that no faker can deceive us.
So, “draw near to God and he will draw near to you” (James 4:8).
God bless you,
Andy Nordquist