"Are You Ready?"

There are some things we prepare for without hesitation. We prepare for company when we know someone is coming to visit. We prepare for travel by packing carefully and checking what we might need along the way. We prepare for storms by buying supplies and securing what matters most. Preparation is a natural response when we know something important is ahead.

Yet one of the greatest promises in all of Scripture is also one of the easiest truths to push quietly into the background: Jesus is coming again.

I have found that thought both comforting and searching. Comforting, because this broken world will not remain as it is forever. Searching, because it causes me to ask a deeply personal question: Am I really living ready? Not just speaking about His return. Not just believing it in theory. But living in such a way that if He came today, my heart would be at peace in His presence.

Life has a way of crowding eternal thoughts. There are bills to pay, bodies that grow tired, schedules to manage, responsibilities to carry, and burdens we do not always talk about out loud. Days pass quickly, and before we know it, our focus can become fixed on surviving the present rather than preparing for eternity. We may love God sincerely, yet still drift into spiritual sleepiness.

That is why the parable of the ten virgins speaks so powerfully to me. In Matthew 25, they were all waiting for the bridegroom. They all had lamps. They all looked prepared from a distance. But when the midnight cry came, only five were truly ready because they had oil in their lamps. The others had appearance, but not endurance. They had expectation, but not enough preparation to last through the delay.

That story reminds me that readiness cannot be borrowed. It cannot be faked. It is built quietly, daily, in relationship with God.

Being ready for Christ’s second coming is not about living in panic. It is about living in surrender. It is about keeping oil in the lamp through prayer, obedience, repentance, and time in God’s presence. It is about staying tender in heart when the world grows harder. It is about forgiving when it would be easier to stay offended, trusting when fear is louder than faith, and remaining watchful even when the wait feels long.

Readiness is not perfection. Thank God for that. If it were, none of us would stand. Readiness is a life that keeps turning back to Jesus. A heart that says, “Lord, keep me close. Keep me awake. Keep me faithful.” It is abiding in Him so deeply that His return is not a moment of terror, but the fulfillment of our blessed hope.

The question, Are you ready for His second coming? is not meant to condemn us. It is meant to call us closer. It is an invitation to examine our hearts, refill our lamps, and remember that this world is not our final home.

Jesus is coming again. May He not find us distracted, empty, or asleep. May He find us watching, praying, believing, and living each day with oil in our lamps and hope in our hearts.

Pearl's Prayer:

Lord, thank You for the promise that You are coming again. Forgive me for the times I have become distracted by life and careless with my soul. Draw me closer to You. Fill my lamp with the oil of Your Spirit. Help me to live ready, not in fear, but in faith; not in panic, but in daily surrender. Keep my heart awake and my life anchored in You.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.