Jump Start # 3416

Amos 4:12 “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel.”

The words of our verse today are sobering. In a series of verses, God says five times to the nation, “yet you have not returned to Me” . The Lord sent calamity after calamity upon His wicked people. Plagues, fires, lack of water, bugs, similar to Egypt and similar to Sodom is what the Lord said. Yet the people would not return. They remained defiant, stubborn and rebellious.

Our verse thunders that the Lord was out of patience with them. The Lord was finished with them. Prepare to meet your God. This wasn’t going to be a pleasant meeting. This wasn’t going to be a good occasion. The nation was in trouble and God was calling them in to Him.

King Hezekiah was told by the prophet Isaiah to “set your house in order.” He was told that he was going to die. Hezekiah’s response was to turn to the wall and pray to God.

What profound statements: Set your house in order for you will die and Prepare to meet your God. Those words can send a chill through us. There is no fooling God. The Lord knows. In Hebrews we are reminded that we have a divine appointment. We can’t cancel that appointment. We can’t avoid that appointment. It is appointed for man to die once and then the judgment. Prepare to meet your God.

So, just how does one prepare? What needs to be done?

First, we must walk by faith. Our lives are intended to be spirit driven. Our thoughts. Our choices. Our words. Our attitudes. Our dreams. All of these things are viewed through Christ. The only difference between Sunday and Monday is that we are in the church building on Sunday. We live a worshipping life. We are prayerful. We are a people of His book. We understand that we are to be obedient to Him. Our eyes and our hearts are ever heavenward.

Even, in all of this, we will see failures in our lives. We will see that we haven’t done all that we could have. And, it’s by God’s amazing grace that we have hope. How do we prepare to meet God? It is through faith, trust and love.

Second, we live as if we have one foot already in Heaven. We are thinking about being with God all the time. This mindset, having the mind of Christ, shapes our heart and develops our character. It is this way that so much of the world doesn’t faze us, bother us, or impress us. We see beyond politics to know that our God sits upon the throne. We see through the fake and vain glitter that Satan puts before our eyes. These things will pass away, we know. The problems that tug on our hearts so much will one day be over. We know that.

How do we prepare to meet our God? We think about that. We anticipate that. We seek the mercy of God.

Third, we have a long and joyous history with God. Meeting God won’t be a first time occasion. We’ve met God in worship. We’ve met God in His word. We’ve met God in prayer. We have been with God and God has been with us. We’ve sought counsel through His word. We have poured our hearts out to Him. We have trusted Him, followed Him, loved Him, and longed to be with Him for a very long time.

God is not a stranger to us. We have confessed our most secret sins to Him. We have begged Him to forgive us. We have thanked Him, rejoiced with Him, and tried to imitate Him.

The story is told that before people met with the Queen of England, that they were escorted into a private room and told what to do and what not to do. One would not speak first. One does not look the queen in the eyes. What she does, you do. All of that was preparation to meet royalty.

Our high school students often take classes that prepare them for college. The material is harder and more is expected but it trains the student for what will come when they go to college.

Preparation to meet God comes from what we find in the Scriptures. The right heart, attitude and humility coupled with a desire to please the Lord in obedience gets one ready.

Prepare to meet your God—

Roger