Saturday - December 24, 2016

Woodlawn Family Bible Study

SATURDAY

BIBLE READING:  1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Today I sit in the dentist office waiting for one of my scheduled cleanings. They recommend that I come at least twice a year for a cleaning. In fact, my insurance will even pay for it if I show up twice a year for my appointment. As I sit here in the waiting room waiting for my turn, I begin to feel a little nervous. I will have to confess that it has been a little while since my last checkup, in fact it has been a long while; almost nine years! When I find out that it has been that long, I expected that blonde lady from the Orbit chewing gum commercials to appear standing next to me with that flashy white smile saying, “Got a dirty mouth?” Why would anyone want to wait nine years to have something checked that is recommended be checked every six months? I could attempt to come up with some legitimate reasons as to why I haven’t been, but there are none. I could say that I haven’t had the time, but that would be a lie. I could also say I was afraid about what they might find. That, too, would be a lie. 

The real reason I haven’t showed up for my dental appointment is because I never even had one scheduled. If I did not have an appointment scheduled, one can see how easy it would be to not show up. There was never one of those notifications that flashed across my screen, or beeped on my phone to say “Dental Appointment on Tuesday at 8:45.” 

There is another appointment that I haven’t written down on my calendar. It is one that I do not have scheduled to be reminded of by that beep on my phone. In the back of my mind I know it is there, but without ever being reminded, there is a danger that it might catch me off guard. This appointment is one I cannot miss. I physically cannot miss it, because when it comes, everything else will stop, and this will be the ONLY thing going on. 

Judgement Day is not something that we can reschedule, or miss one and catch up the next time. It also isn’t something that we can afford to let slip from our minds. Paul said in I Thessalonians 5:2, that this day will come “like a thief in the night.” We won’t know when until it happens. That makes it all the more reason we need to be prepared for this appointment. 

But how can we do that?  What if we were to schedule an appointment everyday to make sure we prepare ourselves for this appointment.  Maybe our phones can beep with a notification that says, “Notification: The Lord could return today.” Hey, if that is what is takes, maybe it is worth a try.