Are You Ready?

When Heaven asks the question

When we were younger, we would play hide and seek. Someone would count down with eyes covered, then shout, "Ready or not, here I come!" It was thrilling. It was just a game. But when Heaven asks the question, it is no longer playful. It is a spiritual reality with eternal weight. And if we are honest, many believers are living as though the Lord's return is distant, as though eternity is something that happens to other people, as though death is only a rumour whispered about someone else.

But the Bible does not treat eternity like a suggestion.

Jesus warned us plainly that the coming of the Son of man would catch people in the middle of ordinary life. They would be eating, drinking, marrying, building, buying, selling. Not necessarily doing wicked things. Just doing normal things with zero spiritual awareness. “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” [Matthew 24:44 KJV].

That is not there to produce panic. It is there to produce preparation.

Here is the heart of this message: Readiness is not a mood. It is a lifestyle.

Are you ready? Then don’t fall asleep.

One of the most sobering truths is that you can be around the things of God and still become spiritually drowsy. You can know the language, know the songs, know the routines, and still lose the fire.

Paul said, “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” [Romans 13:11 KJV]

Spiritual sleep is when you stop watching. You stop discerning. You stop caring about what grieves the Spirit. You stop fighting.

And the world is designed to sedate you.

It is not always the “big” sins. It is distraction. It is comfort. It is busyness. It is carrying the same weights as everybody else until your inner man is starved.

Jesus said, “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.” [Luke 21:34 KJV]

Notice that list.

• Surfeiting: excess.
• Drunkenness: intoxication.
• Cares of this life: the pressure of normal living.

Any of those can make a believer dull.

Are you ready? Stay close, not clever.

Some people only talk about the Lord’s return when they are trying to prove they have figured out the calendar. But readiness is not cracking a code. Readiness is staying close.

Jesus said, “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.” [Matthew 24:42 KJV]

If the timing is unknown, then the only safe posture is watching. Not staring at the sky. Watching your own heart. Watching your walk. Watching your doctrine. Watching the times with sober discernment.

This is why the call is simple: stay clean, stay filled, stay faithful.

Are you ready? Then check the oil.

The parable of the ten virgins is one of the strongest pictures Jesus ever gave of readiness. Everybody looked the same on the outside. Everybody had a lamp. Everybody had the right setting. But when the cry came, only some had oil.

“While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.” [Matthew 25:5 KJV]

That verse alone should stop us in our tracks. It is possible to be in the right place and still get sleepy. And then the moment arrives.

“And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.” [Matthew 25:6 KJV]

The difference was not the lamp. The difference was the oil.

You can’t borrow spiritual life at the last minute. You can’t borrow intimacy. You can’t borrow obedience. You can’t borrow the secret place. You can’t borrow the Word hidden in your heart.

“But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.” [Matthew 25:4 KJV]

Oil speaks of what is real and personal.

• A real prayer life.
• A real walk in the Spirit.
• A real appetite for Scripture.
• A real hatred for sin.
• A real love for people.

Are you ready? Daily obedience proves it.

People sometimes imagine readiness as some dramatic, last-minute moment of heroism. But most of the Christian life is the quiet faithfulness of ordinary obedience.

Jesus said, “Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.” [Matthew 24:46 KJV]

“So doing.” Doing what?

Doing what the Lord said. Living like the Bible is true. Keeping your vows. Forgiving. Repenting quickly. Serving. Being honest. Staying pure. Staying humble. Staying teachable. Staying consistent.

And let me say this plainly: readiness is not just about avoiding sin. It is about doing the will of God.

James said, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” [James 4:17 KJV]

A lot of people are waiting for a “word” while ignoring the Word.

Are you ready? Walk in the fear of God.

We are living in an age where many want comfort without correction, blessing without holiness, grace without government. But the New Testament does not present a casual God.

Peter wrote, “And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.” [1 Peter 1:17 KJV]

That is not the fear of losing salvation every time you blink wrong. That is the fear of God that produces humility, reverence, and carefulness. If you love the Lord, you don’t want to grieve Him.

Paul said, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” [Ephesians 4:30 KJV]

Readiness is living in a way that honours the One who saved you.

Are you ready? Then lift up your head.

Some believers look at the state of the world and feel crushed. But the Bible tells us what to do when things intensify.

“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” [Luke 21:28 KJV]

That is not escapism. That is perspective.

We are not called to be entertained. We are called to be faithful.

We are not called to be asleep. We are called to be sober.

We are not called to live for the moment. We are called to live for eternity.

Paul said, “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” [Titus 2:11–13 KJV]

That is readiness. Not a countdown clock. A consecrated life.

So — are you ready this week?

Let’s bring it right down to the ground.

• Stay repentant. Keep short accounts with God. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” [1 John 1:9 KJV]
• Stay in the Word. Faith gets fed there. “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” [Psalm 119:11 KJV]
• Stay prayerful. Watch and pray is not a suggestion. “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.” [Matthew 26:41 KJV]
• Stay loving. Bitterness is a readiness killer. “And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves.” [1 Peter 4:8 KJV]
• Stay useful. Don’t bury what God gave you. “Occupy till I come.” [Luke 19:13 KJV]

The Lord is not calling us into fear. He is calling us into faithfulness.

Because one day the counting will stop, and the searching will begin.

Are You Ready?

Key Takeaways

• Readiness is not fear. It is preparation. The Lord’s return and eternity are presented in Scripture as realities to live in light of, not ideas to ignore.
• Readiness is a lifestyle, not a mood. It is steady, lived obedience, not a sudden emotional moment.
• The great danger is spiritual sleep. Not only obvious sin, but distraction, comfort, busyness, and “the cares of this life” can dull spiritual alertness.
• Readiness is relational, not informational. It is not about end-times charts or cracking timelines, but staying close to Christ and watching over the heart and walk.
• “Oil in the lamp” is essential. Outward appearance is not enough. What matters is real, personal spiritual life that cannot be borrowed at the last minute (prayer, Spirit-filled living, Scripture appetite, obedience).
• Readiness is proven in daily obedience. The focus is being found “so doing”, faithful in ordinary duties: repentance, forgiveness, honesty, purity, humility, service.
• Readiness includes reverent fear of God. Not panic, but a carefulness that refuses to grieve the Holy Spirit and treats holiness seriously.
• Readiness is hopeful and forward-looking. When the world grows darker, Scripture calls believers to lift their heads, stay sober, and live with eternal perspective.
• Practical “this week” application:
  • Stay repentant (keep short accounts with God).
  • Stay in the Word (feed faith, hide Scripture in the heart).
  • Stay prayerful (watch and pray against temptation).
  • Stay loving (bitterness kills readiness).
  • Stay useful (don’t bury what God gave you).