"Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." - Matthew 24:44
"It will be fine," I thought. "What's the chances of him coming at this very second? I've just got to tell Garett about this juicy information I have." Then, I pulled out my phone. Phones aren't allowed for any reason at my job, due to government regulation. But everyone has one. Everyone uses one. I see them pulling theirs out all the time. So what does it matter if I pull mine out for just a second? As I stood at my machine, messaging away, suddenly, the president of the company was next to me. I didn't hear him. He was just there. He said, "Merry Christmas, Jen!" as he gave his hand to me for a handshake. I clumsily threw my phone in my pocket, and shook his hand back. "Merry Christmas to you too!" I must have been as red as a beet. He didn't say anything about my phone, but I know he saw it. I was caught red-handed. And as soon as he came, he was gone.
For about twenty minutes, I beat myself up about it. I knew the president would be coming at some point in the day, just as he does every holiday to wish his employees a merry Christmas, yet I still wasn't ready. Oh, if only I had another chance! If only he could see how I mended my ways and my phone was no longer in my hands, forever stashed away at the bottom of my purse... well, until my work day was over. But it didn't matter. He caught me on my phone, breaking company rules. That's all he saw.
I think the Holy Spirit used this experience to teach me something. I suddenly thought, "I hope I am more ready for Jesus to return, than I was for the president." I don't know why I thought that, but I did. You see, when Jesus first came to the earth 2000 years ago, the people weren't ready for Him then, either. Their hearts were hardened, and they despised Him. The baby that was born in a manger was sent to be a sacrifice. The people knew from Isaiah that a Savior would be sent, yet the still weren't ready to accept Jesus.
During this Christmas holiday, it's easy to get tied up in the rush, shopping for presents, opening gifts, cooking dinners. But it's so easy to forget what this holiday means for us Christians: that a Savior came to earth to sacrifice Himself, and He is coming back. Soon. Let's be ready for Him this time.
Dear Jesus,
Thank You so much for coming to earth to save us. Thank You that we can celebrate that on Christmas day. We know You are coming back soon, and we want to be ready for You. We love You.
Amen