Living Ready: Readiness

There is a difference between knowing and doing. We may know many things, but those who act are more capable. For example, a doctor is often better at treating people than those who wrote the textbooks. In nearly every field, doing outweighs just knowing. This truth becomes even clearer in discussions about eternity.

Eternity is real. We cannot wish it away; instead, we must prepare for it. The thought of eternity can be daunting, especially in passages like Luke 16:19ff. Such text highlights the vast difference between two places, the fact that there are two places, and—perhaps most strikingly—the permanence of our final position. There is no crossing from one side to the other.

Eternity is serious. As Jesus noted in Luke 16, if people will not listen to God or act on that knowledge, nothing will change. We must be abundantly aware and persistently ready — eternity can begin at any moment, any day, near or far. It may arrive through the natural (Heb 9:27) or the supernatural (1 Thess 4:13-17). Realizing this, and that this present world will end and our deeds will be exposed, Peter urges us to keep our focus on both the facts and our lives.

“Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!” (2 Peter 3:11-12)

If all that is temporary will be dissolved, we must prioritize the eternal. True readiness means setting our hearts apart (1 Pet 1:15-16) and being reasonable voices for truth (1 Pet 3:15). We can only be ready if, though there is delay (2 Pet 3:9), we do not mistake God’s patience as permission to delay our commitment.

Readiness develops over a lifetime, not in an instant. We cannot scramble at the last moment; we must walk in readiness daily.

Are you ready?

Be ready.