Deadline
I had a big deadline yesterday. And it wasn't the sort of deadline that could be moved. Having it took the fun out of the days before. Finally, as I was uploading my project, 15 minutes before it was due, I breathed a sigh of relief. Then I thought about the enjoyable time I missed out on. The times in the days before with friends and loved ones, where my mind was elsewhere because I had this deadline looming and I wasn’t ready.I was chatting with one of our college students and he told me, that day was his project due date. He said, “Ya, I have five or six big projects due today.” So I asked, “Why are you standing here talking with me?” He said, “Oh, I finished them a long time ago. I barely remembered that today was the due date. They’re already turned in."That was my problem. I didn’t finish my project early. I waited until right before it was due. Because of it, my work probably suffered, and I struggled emotionally leading up to it, because it was heavy on my mind.Jesus reminded his followers of this several times and in several ways. He reminded them that for all of us, we have a looming deadline. It will either come in the form of death, or at his return. Either way, the deadline is real. The problem is, none of us know when.And so Jesus’ point was, “Get ready now, and stay ready. You don’t know when your time is up."Being ready makes everything else in life more enjoyable. Not being ready means you have a weight on you that takes away from everything else. You can’t fully enjoy your blessings when you know on the inside that you are not ready to meet God.A lot of people are trying to wait until the last minute, thinking they will have warning before death. But not only is that a risk that is not worth taking, it’ll spoil the time you have. The better plan is to make things right with God and the people around you, today. And then maintain those relationships through the rest of your life. It’ll make everything better in your life to have the confidence that your ultimate deadline has already been fulfilled. The actual day you meet God can be one to look forward to, and not to dread.