Getting ready

Days are getting shorter and fall colors are filling the scenery. It's time to bake some pumpkin bread and delicious cookies and decorate the house for gratitude themed gatherings. In the midst of all preparing we may wonder where to find all that time to thank everybody and remember everything in the list that just keeps getting longer. Soon it's time for Christmas cards and little gifts for those we love. In these seasons it is easy to lose the focus when there's just so much to do. Why are we doing all this: decorating, preparing, running in the stores, getting stuff and more ingredients... to do what?

Jesus invites us to remember Him each and everyday and would love for us to treat everyone like we did all these things to Him. Like we were preparing to be ready for Him. And in those encounters we would need nothing else. He would be exactly what we were longing for. In Him we have everything and we lack nothing.

All this preparation makes me think of the big feast, getting ready for the big wedding. Invitations are being sent and table is already set. If the party is about to start in just a few moments how many of us are really hearing the call? Come, join me, time is now! He would whisper in the ear, but would we gladly leave our busy lists and join the ceremony. Would we be willing to set aside all the important errands and even the scheduled meetings that are not to be missed. Would we put Jesus first if He came to us in a form we didn't recognize? If He was that lonely neighbor who we hardly know by name? Or if He was that team member who has been giving us hard time? Or if He was in the hospital bed and we would be the only ones in the area to visit Him? What if He was that begging stranger clothed in dirty rags in the streets and was asking for a sip of water? Or maybe He was our friend who we had just had an argument with and we just had not been feeling the connection lately?

Whoever the person was, we should have the heart to treat them the way Jesus taught us to do. Are we ready today? Are we willing now and everyday to be like Him and act like Him? Not just on paper but really with our actions. Even and especially when nobody sees us.

When we set the table to invite friends to gather together we remember how Jesus taught about the significance of sharing a meal. We should cleanse our hearts before we come to the table. If anything bothers us, we should let Him cleanse us and have our minds renewed to start fresh again. Whether it was just a tiny step aside that led us astray or a major conflict that confused our minds out of the blue. Whatever it was we should bring that to the cross, where our shortcomings have been paid for. Then it is time to find that best tablecloth, pure and clean, all white, and get the table ready. For our guests we so love and those others we may not know yet, but who so willingly are joining and are also called by Jesus, our Host of Hosts.

We should all prepare for the same reasons. To act with kindness, to prepare with love, to use all the best ingredients God has created for the use to bring more glory to Him. We should be open for His little promptings and willing as He urges us repeatedly to answer His calls.

So are we listening in the midst of all preparing? Who sits in our table, next to us? Is it a friend who we so love to talk to? Or a stranger we are yet to get to know better? Or someone God has sent our way for us to learn something new?

Whoever it is and whenever the big celebration takes place, may our hearts be ready. To love well, to extend the invitations, to remember the promises we have been given in His holy word. For all that we do and all that we pray for, is to bring more glory to Him, who is the Maker of everything and the Giver of life.