Ready or Not: Are You Living Ready?

When I was growing up, talking about the end times could be pretty scary.
If you were a Christian kid in the 1980s, you might remember movies like A Thief in the Night. Those movies scared the living daylights out of me.
I remember waking up in the middle of the night wondering if the rapture had happened. My first instinct was to check whether my mom was still home. I figured if she was still there, everything was probably okay. I wasn't quite as confident about the rest of us!
Maybe you can relate.
For some people, the subject of Jesus' return brings excitement and hope. For others, it brings uncertainty, confusion, or even fear.
But here's something I want you to understand:
JESUS DIDN'T TEACH US ABOUT HIS RETURN SO WE WOULD LIVE IN FEAR. HE TAUGHT US SO WE WOULD LIVE READY.
The Bible tells us that Jesus is coming again. We don't know the day or the hour, but we do know that His promise is true.
It's not about us trying to figure out every detail of the end times.
But instead Jesus teaches us that we are supposed to be ready.
Are you ready?
You Can Look Ready and Still Not Be Ready
In Matthew 25, Jesus tells a parable about ten bridesmaids waiting for a bridegroom to arrive at a wedding celebration.
All ten were invited to participate. All ten had lamps. All ten were waiting for the same bridegroom.
But there was an important difference.
Five were wise and brought extra oil for their lamps. Five were foolish and failed to prepare.
When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
Then, at midnight, the announcement came: The bridegroom was arriving!
Suddenly, the difference between the two groups became obvious.
Five were ready. Five were not.
The foolish bridesmaids had lamps, but they didn't have what they needed to keep them burning.
They looked prepared, but they weren't.
And that's the warning Jesus wants us to understand.
YOU CAN LOOK READY AND STILL NOT BE READY.
It's possible to attend church, know the songs, serve on a ministry team, and be surrounded by Christians without having a genuine relationship with Jesus.
From the outside, everything might look right.
But Jesus isn't simply looking at our outward appearance. He knows what's happening in our hearts.
The question isn't whether we look like Christians.
It's whether we truly know and follow Christ.
You Can't Borrow Someone Else's Faith
When the foolish bridesmaids realized their lamps were going out, they turned to the wise bridesmaids and asked for some of their oil.
But the wise bridesmaids couldn't give them what they needed without risking their own readiness.
There's a powerful spiritual lesson here.
YOU CAN BORROW A BIBLE, BUT YOU CAN'T BORROW A RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS.
You can't depend on your parents' faith, your spouse's faith, or your pastor's faith.
You can't assume you're right with God simply because you grew up in church or come from a Christian family.
At some point, faith has to become personal.
Romans 10:9 teaches us that salvation involves confessing Jesus as Lord and believing that God raised Him from the dead.
It's not enough to know about Jesus. We must personally put our trust in Him.
Think about getting on an airplane.
You can study how airplanes work. You can understand the principles of flight. You can even believe that the plane is capable of carrying you safely to your destination.
But eventually, you have to sit down and trust the plane to carry you.
Faith in Jesus works much the same way.
You can know a great deal about Him without ever surrendering your life to Him.
Salvation isn't something we earn by trying harder or being religious enough. It's a gift of God's grace that we receive through faith in Jesus Christ.
And that decision is one each of us must make personally.
The Door Won't Stay Open Forever
One of the most sobering moments in Jesus' parable comes when the bridegroom arrives.
The five prepared bridesmaids enter the wedding celebration.
Then the door is shut.
When the others return, they find themselves outside.
They call out, asking to be let in, but the bridegroom tells them he doesn't know them.
It's a difficult picture, but Jesus is making an important point.
There is an urgency to being ready.
Earlier, in Matthew 24, Jesus compared His return to the days of Noah.
Before the flood, people continued with their everyday lives. They ate, drank, and made plans for the future, unaware of the judgment that was coming.
Noah entered the ark, and God shut the door.
For a time, there had been an opportunity to respond. But that opportunity did not remain open forever.
The same warning is present in the parable of the ten bridesmaids.
THE DOOR IS OPEN TODAY, BUT IT WON'T STAY OPEN FOREVER.
That statement isn't meant to make us panic.
It's meant to remind us that our response to Jesus matters.
And here's the good news: The invitation is still open.
Jesus didn't come into the world simply to warn us about judgment. He came to save us.
He lived a sinless life, died on the cross for our sins, and rose again so that we could be forgiven and receive eternal life.
JESUS CAME THE FIRST TIME TO MAKE A WAY FOR YOU TO BE READY WHEN HE COMES AGAIN.
You don't have to spend your life afraid of His return.
You can have peace knowing that you belong to Him.
What Does It Mean to Live Ready?
Jesus concludes the parable with a simple instruction to stay alert because we don't know the day or the hour.
But what does readiness actually look like?
I believe we can summarize it in three simple statements:
1. Know Him
The most important question isn't whether you know about Jesus. It's whether you have a personal relationship with Him.
Have you trusted Him as your Savior? Have you surrendered your life to Him?
Jesus warned in Matthew 7 that some people would call Him Lord and point to their religious activities, yet He would say that He never knew them.
Religious activity cannot replace a genuine relationship with Christ.
2. Follow Him
Jesus calls us to more than simply believing that He exists.
In Luke 9:23, He tells His followers to deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow Him.
Following Jesus means allowing Him to lead our lives.
It means choosing obedience, turning away from sin, forgiving others, and becoming more like Him.
We won't do everything perfectly, but genuine faith produces a growing desire to follow Christ.
3. Be Faithful
Living ready doesn't mean withdrawing from the world, hiding in fear, or spending every day trying to predict when Jesus will return.
It means faithfully doing what He's called us to do.
Love your family. Serve others. Share the gospel. Use the gifts God has given you. Make disciples. Be faithful with the opportunities in front of you.
WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO HIS RETURN, BUT WE'RE WORKING UNTIL HE RETURNS.
We don't have to choose between anticipating heaven and making a difference on earth.
We can do both.
Are You Ready?
One day, Jesus will return.
And when He does, what will matter most won't be whether we correctly predicted the timing or understood every detail of biblical prophecy.
What will matter is whether we belong to Him.
Maybe you've been around church your whole life, but you've never personally surrendered your life to Jesus.
Maybe you once followed Him closely, but you've drifted away.
Or maybe you've allowed fear about the future to steal the peace and hope God wants you to experience.
Today is an opportunity to respond.
Turn to Jesus. Put your trust in what He accomplished through His death and resurrection. Surrender your life to Him and begin following Him.
You don't have to have everything figured out.
You just need to put your faith in the One who has already made a way for you.
Because here's the truth I want you to remember:
YOU DON'T GET READY WHEN JESUS COMES. YOU GET READY BEFORE HE COMES.
And when you know Him, follow Him, and live faithfully, His return doesn't have to be something you dread.
It can be something you look forward to.
Ready or not, Jesus is coming again. Let's live ready.

Reflection Questions

1. Am I depending on my own relationship with Jesus, or am I relying on my religious background?
2. Is there an area of my life where I'm resisting His leadership?
3. If Jesus returned today, what would He find me doing?

Scripture for Further Reading: Matthew 24:36–44; Matthew 25:1–13; Romans 10:9–10; Luke 9:23.