Jump Start # 3958
2 Kings 20:1 “In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’”
NOTE: Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day. There will be no Jump Start published. Enjoy the day with your family. Be thankful.
Hezekiah the king was sick. He was very sick. The prophet Isaiah was sent to him with a message from God. The message would only make him sicker. You are not going to get better. You are not going to beat this. You are going to die. Get your things in order because this is it.
A friend and Jump Start reader asked me “How do we prepare to meet God?” There are many financial things we can do to prepare for death. Having a will, life insurance, burial plans are the typical things that people do. But, what about preparing to stand before God? What can we do to get ready for that?
Multiple N.T. books tell of the judgment. Matthew, John, Romans, Corinthians, Revelation picture books being opened and we standing before the throne of God. Throughout life, there are many things we prepare for. Before medical tests or surgeries, we are often told not to eat past a certain hour. It’s consider part of the prep. Attorneys will prep their clients before they go to trial. There may be some tough questions asked. Before major tests, hours are spent going over notes and reading chapters again, just to be ready.
There are many things about the judgment that we do not know. Will we all stand in line, watching the person in front of us? Will we be grouped alphabetically or by generations? There have been a lot of people on this planet, won’t the process take a long time? What if my last name starts with “Z”? There are so many different languages, how will God put all of that together? So many questions.
How does one prepare to stand before God? He is so holy and often we are not. He is perfect and we are not. He never had to apologize. We do. He never had to ask for forgiveness. We do. Many envision standing before the judgment throne as an oral exam. God’s going to ask us questions and we have to answer them. We see shows on TV like Jeopardy, and we do pretty well answering the questions from the couch in our homes. It’d be different being on stage. Cameras pointing at you. An audience watching you. Suddenly, the confidence would leave us.
The thrust of the judgment passages are not pictured like a question and answer session. It’s not an oral exam. Over and over the emphasis seems to be upon what we have done. Did we walk in the light? Did we give food to the one who was hungry? Did we do good deeds? It seems more of what we do than what we know. Many a person may know the right answers but have they done anything worthwhile with those answers?
Set your house in order, for you shall die. What kind of prep can I do to get ready to stand before God?
Here are a few thoughts:
First, humble your heart. Realize your hope is in the grace of God not your perfection. You cannot know enough or be good enough to walk through the gates of Heaven. It’s by faith in a loving Savior who died for you that any of us have that hope. Those too proud to do what God says won’t fair well at the judgment. It’s the broken, the humble, those crying for mercy that God looks favorably on. Heaven will be a gift that we do not deserve.
Second, I need to walk with the Lord today. Unplug myself from the clutter of our culture that mindlessly thinks it will live forever and has no need for a loving God. We can get so caught up with right and left that we forget that there is an up and down. Are you talking to the Lord? Are you thanking God? Are you doing all you can to put your foot into His footprints? Are you encouraging others? Are you sharing the Gospel? Someday, you will stand before God. Just taking your chances is no chance. Faith is what captures the attention of God. Walk by faith. Feed your faith. Protect your faith. Let faith drive you, define you, and lead you.
Third, one can enter thoughts about the judgment with a terrifying fear. It’s God. But, when you realize how much God loves you. All that God has done for you. How patient He has been with you. How often He has forgiven you. How He has heard you. How He has blessed you. How He has put people in your life to help you. How He has partnered to work with and through you. When you begin to grasp the nature of God, the father running out to the prodigal with open arms to embrace. You realize God is not the frowning judge who had no compassion, concern or thought of you. That’s not our God. He’s not hoping that you fail Him. He’s not longing to send you to the fires of Hell.
What can I do to prep for standing before God? Love God. Worship God. Follow God. Talk to God. Know God. Realize that Jesus is preparing a place for you in His Father’s house. He is getting things ready. He is expecting you there. He is ready to welcome you. He wants you there.
Some of Paul’s final sentences included the confidence of an awaiting crown for all who loved the appearing of the Lord.
Prep for the judgment? Certainly. Be scared? No. God is good. God is welcoming us to Him.
Roger