A Calling to Prepare
Just days before He would die on the cross, Jesus spoke these words to His followers:
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come."
Matthew 24:42 NIV
He knew exactly when He would die. He knew the hour of His resurrection. He knew the plan, the timing, and the weight of everything unfolding around Him.
But here, during a series of parables, Jesus shifts His focus to what’s still ahead: His return. And He makes one thing clear—we won’t know when it’s coming. No date on the calendar. No countdown clock. Just this charge: Keep watch.
Why? Because when we live with spiritual alertness and urgency, we prioritize what matters. We live awake to the work of God around us. We live watchful over our own hearts, refusing to drift into complacency.
If every day could be the day Jesus returns, then we must live every day with the same obedience to His calling for us.
Jesus isn’t calling us to panic; He’s calling us to prepare. He’s inviting us to stay faithful and hopeful in a world that can dull our sense of eternity. To keep our hearts anchored in the truth that this world is not our final home—and He is coming again to make all things new.
So we watch and wait, but not complacently. Instead, we live today in light of that glorious day to come.
Truth Changes Everything
Think about the best news you've ever received in your life. Maybe it was a doctor walking into a waiting room and saying, "The surgery went perfectly." Maybe it was a phone call that said, "You got the job." Maybe it was two lines on a pregnancy test you'd been praying for.
Good news changes everything.
But none of those moments, as incredible as they are, even come close to the truth delivered on the first Easter morning:
"He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay."
Matthew 28:6 (NIV)
Jesus had been crucified publicly, brutally, and officially. He was wrapped, sealed in a tomb. There was no question. Jesus was dead. It was true.
But when His followers Mary and Mary Magdalene arrived to grieve? The stone was rolled away. The tomb was empty. And an angel met them with the most stunning announcement in human history.
But the angel doesn’t just tell the women the truth. He invites them to look for themselves. To step inside. To experience the...