Incoming!

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come."--Matthew 24:42

We had just come home from church. I was already kicking off my shoes in preparation of a sedentary Sunday afternoon, when the phone rang. My husband's parents had called to say that they were in the area and wondered if it would be okay for them to stop by for a visit. Since that evening's choir rehearsal had been rescheduled, we had plenty of time for entertaining company. (By the way, thanks again Mom and Dad, for dinner!)

What my in-laws saw was our cute apartment in pretty good shape. What they didn't see was the flurry of activity that took place right after we got off the phone. As I hung up the phone, my internal monologue shouted "Incoming! All hands on deck!" Our place wasn't in disarray, but it wasn't spic-n-span either. It must have been due to God's providence that we had already done some heavier duty household chores earlier that week. Fortunately, all that really needed to be done was wipe the counters and run the vacuum, and I was able to sucker...er, talk my husband into doing that.

I think for the most part, everyone tries to put his or her best foot forward in certain situations. We do this especially when we find ourselves in the company of someone we respect or admire. God deserves our ultimate respect and admiration, but how often do we make sure that the varying aspects of our life are presented well before Him? Why is it that some of us behave very differently at church or among our Christian friends than we do during the rest of the week around others? Do we think that God doesn't see us unless we're looking directly at Him?

God sees us all the time. He knows our thoughts before they are given much time to grow. He knows the intentions behind every one of our actions, whether it be noble or selfish. He sees us in a light that is even more brutally honest that even our most trusted friends do. He knows us more intimately than we know ourselves. He sees us as we truly are.

Even though we are already under God's watchful eye, some day He's going to check on us. Our time on earth will come to an abrupt end, and we will be found either living faithfully, or idly. God gives us no warning of when this will take place. He won't call us on the telephone to say that He's in the area and will drop by around 4 o'clock if that's convenient. We will not be given an opportunity to run around frantically trying to clean up our living space to make it appear acceptable to Him.

God wants us to be ready at any moment for His appearance. We need to live each day as if it was our last, and focus on the things that really matter--like developing a relationship with Him. The day will come when we will run out of opportunities to get our hearts right with God. While we still have time, we need to get plugged into Him.