by Chris Steele

February 4, 2007

We would all agree that there is never a good time to experience a tornado. But in the middle of the night when most likely we would be in bed and not seeing or hearing the warnings via television or radio, there could be no worse time. Although we may be able to do little when we find ourselves suddenly in the path of a tornado, we can prepare our souls for the hour when our Lord comes to judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17:31).

As we woke up to the news of devastation and death that came to Central Florida during the nighttime hours, it reminded me of the Lord’s warning in Matthew 24:42-44 (NKJV), “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

From ancient times, the God of heaven has warned humanity to be ready to meet Him (Amos 4:12). We must be ready in case we die. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). We must be ready in case Jesus comes again to judge the world. “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night…” (2 Peter 3:10). Paul added, “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5:2-5).

As we can see, we have been warned repeatedly to prepare our souls for judgment. We are commanded also to warn others, so that they too can escape the devastation that awaits those who are unprepared.