TITLE: Be Ready To Go By Theresa Vogel Millward 09/23/06 |
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During hurricane season in the eastern United States, the Weather Bureau warns people of impending danger from volatile hurricanes. People are usually warned days in advance to prepare for ferocious winds and pounding rains. People are advised to pack their belongings, as much as they can, and be ready to go to safer ground. Some people heed the warnings to prepare and some people do not, taking a chance with the storm.
In the song, “Be Ready To Go,” C. C. Williams emphasizes that we need to be ready for Jesus’ return. The Bible says that Jesus will return someday and take His redeemed ones to heaven to live with Him. Jesus said that He is preparing a place for us.
We don’t know when Jesus will return, but we need to be ready for His return. “You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him” (Luke 12:40). To me it’s like keeping my house tidy all the time just in case somebody stops by unexpectedly for a visit.
My need for readiness became apparent when I was eleven years old. In 1968, I attended Vacation Bible School and it was during that time that I was able to comprehend salvation through Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit convicted me of my need for Christ and I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior on a summer day.
We are all one breath away from eternity. The Lord could take any one of us at any time and we need to have what I call our “spiritual bags” packed, ready to go. Early in 2006, one of my younger brothers was killed in a tragic automobile accident. He was just forty-seven years old. His death came without warning, but because my brother was a believer in Jesus Christ, he had his spiritual bags packed. He was ready to go to heaven.
We need to be ready—being ready for eternity requires that we put our faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. God loves us and wants to have a personal relationship with us. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Sin has created a barrier between man and God. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We cannot work for our salvation, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8, 9).
We must receive Jesus as Savior and Lord. “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Only then can we be ready to go.
We’re told in the Bible that Jesus is coming,
Be ready to go, be ready to go!
When He shall descend from the portals of glory,
Be ready to go, be ready to go!
Refrain:
Be ready to go, for sure He is coming!
That day may be near, be ready to go,
Be ready to go with all the redeemed ones!
When He shall appear, be ready to go!
We know not the day nor the hour of His coming,
Be ready to go, be ready to go!
Reward He has promised to all who are faithful,
Be ready to go, be ready to go!
Refrain
Would you with the millions redeemed there be numbered?
Be ready to go, be ready to go!
Then slight not His call, nor reject His mercy,
Be ready to go, be ready to go!
(Be Ready To Go, public domain)
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