“And now, children, stay with Christ. Live deeply in Christ. Then we’ll be ready for him when he appears, ready to receive him with open arms, with no cause for red-faced guilt or lame excuses when he arrives.” 1 John 2:28 MSG
Live deeply. Live ready. With whom? Christ. See, when you live deeply in Christ you will always be ready when He appears…and He WILL appear.
It’s not something we do…it’s who we are IN Christ. He’s already done all the dirty work for us. All we have to do is believe and receive. And in the continual receiving, we keep at-the-ready.
You can’t just believe and go about living your own way. If you do, you will have red-faced guilt and lame excuses when Jesus looks into your eyes.
Besides, it’s in the receiving that you WANT to stay with Jesus. You WANT to be more like Him and less like your putrid self.
So, how do you keep receiving? Easy. Non-negotiable face-to-face time with Him in His Word and conversation. After all, to stay and live deeply with someone, you need to spend time with them.
Same with Jesus. He longs for you to stay and live with Him. So you will be ready for Him.
