Preparations

 October 8, 2023

A couple days ago, I wrote about all the work Linda put into preparing for our guests to stay the week, comparing it to how much work we put into preparing for Christ’s coming. The fact is, most of us put a minuscule effort into preparing for the far more momentous coming of Christ than Linda put into preparing for our guests.

There is another angle to all this. The Bible tells us that God created all that is in six days. Well-meaning people will make all sorts of arguments about exactly what that means; six literal twenty-four hour days, epochs of time, or perhaps ditching all time references in Genesis and taking the Creation story to be or merely symbolic or even fanciful. I don’t believe however, that many scholars would seriously argue that the original author believed in anything other than a six day Creation. So, taking the story at face value, let’s compare it with something Jesus himself said that may put a bit of perspective on his return.

In John’s gospel, Jesus says this:

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” —John 14:1-3 

It’s been more than 2,000 years since Jesus uttered those words. His early followers fully expected that he would come back within their lifetime, but that hasn’t happened. Two thousand years—that’s more than 730,000 days, nearly three quarters of a million. If it took God only six days to create a world so beautiful and complex as ours (let alone the rest of the universe), can you imagine what he has been doing with 730,000 days? Paul said it best when he quoted Isaiah:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” —I Corinthians 2:9 

We cannot begin to imagine the magnificent splendor of heaven. As we prepare for Jesus’ coming, never forget—God has been preparing, too.