Forecast Foretold ⛈
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come... So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” ~ Matthew 24:42-44)
It's like a predictable template.
Watching everyone just fall into busy mode at the declaration and confirmation of an upcoming tropical storm of some sort.
People instantly hit the roads and descend upon the providers of essential services, such as supermarkets and other grocery shops, banks and ATMs, restaurants, etc.
The natural instinct is to stock up, maybe to hoard, but definitely to prepare.
For some, the response is instant, fast and often furious. As soon as they know that a storm is en route, then they spring into action to ensure that they are not caught flat-footed or empty-handed in the turmoil of a storm.
For others, the response is almost the opposite. They process the announcements and the warnings quite differently, oftentimes with a default query of: "When is it supposed to come? and followed up with a declaration that immediately renders the question quite moot: "I'm going to watch it first."
For the uninitiated, what that means is that there is no intention to do any kind of hectic preparatory work for something where the arrival is unsure.
Likewise do we have 2 distinct sets of people responding to the advisory of Jesus' return and the warnings to be prepared for all that His return entails.
While some will receive the message and immediately spring into action to prepare themselves for what is coming (by accepting Him as their God and Saviour), there are others who will decide to take a "watch and see" approach instead.
Many of these spiritual laggards simply find the efforts and adjustments required to be "ready", simply too inconvenient and disruptive and would just rather kick the can down the road and delay dealing with the truth of the report for as long as possible.
These will be like the 5 maidens mentioned in the parable from Matthew 25:1-13, who failed to prepare for the arrival of their groom. When the cry comes at midnight, it will be too late to prepare.
Let us not only ensure that we are counted among those that are prepared for what is to come, but may we also be those who prepare others by spreading the good report of the Gospel and the truth about how men might be saved.
On the day the Lord puts in His appearance, many will be surprised and unprepared, let it not be as a result of having never heard the Forecast Foretold.