Matthew 24:44
So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.
I have tried to live by the principle of taking care of the business at hand because you don't know what is going to come up in the future to prevent you doing what needs to be done. As kids, we'd often put off chores because something good was on TV, you were in the middle of another activity or you just were too tired to do it then. "I'll get to it later," I'd often proclaim to my folks. It always seemed to happen that when it was time for chores that I'd put off, my friends wanted me to do something. But my debt was due and I'd have to miss out, so I started becoming more disciplined to be prepared for things to come. This, by the way, happens to adults too. We put off paying the bills, then something big comes up and you get behind or even late, then have to pay a penalty. Ugh!!!
The message from Jesus in Matthew's Gospel has a more eternal consequence. We are given everything from the Lord: family, possessions, social status, even our own lives. We have all these gifts but don't use them wisely. We squander our chances to help others, to give back, to pray, to study, to evangelize. We put these off because, well…many times it's just inconvenient. Yet one day, Jesus warns, the master (God) is going to come for you. He's going to come for me. That is the truth. Fact is, it will probably be at an inconvenient time in our lives, so we'd better be ready. If God came for you today, this hour, in the next few minutes, are you ready? Have you taken care of your family, friends, and work? I hope so, but most likely not. That, my friend, is an inconvenient truth.
