12-15-20   THOUGHTS

In the child’s game...  “Ready or not, here I come!”  Ready is GOOD!  
Matt 24;35-39    "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. 36  "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. 37  "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38  "For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39  and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Matt 24:42-43   "Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. 43   "But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.
Jesus follows with some parables of urgency.  Parables that demand OUR preparation and OUR  “BEING READY”!     A slave and a master Matt 24:46-51; Ten virgins Matt 25:1-13; Talents Matt 25:14-30; Sheep and Goat Separation Matt 25:31-46.
When I read these passages, I think, “WHAT IS  REAL IS COMING...   IT IS NOT PRESENT NOW’!  And   “What is now is INSEPARABLY BOUND to what shall be!”  
1Thes 4:1-11    Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. 2  For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3  While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. 4  But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; 5  for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; 6  so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. 7  For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. 8  But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. 9  For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10  who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. 11  Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.
1Pet 1:13   Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1Pet 5:8   Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

My Prayer:
Oh Father, keep us sober, alert and ready.  May your words be the focus of our hearts continually. May we have the strength to remove from our lives the information that is nothing and botheration, and diluting to our souls.  May we  long for the pure milk of your word that we may grow thereby.  Teach us to discern what goes into our minds.  

In Jesus name       Amen