Jesus looks ahead to His second coming. I don’t know about you, but hearing Him tell us about it excites me. From His own mouth, He tells us He’ll appear in the sky with power and glory, accompanied by angels and blaring trumpets. I honestly hope I’m alive to see it and meet Him in the air.

But then Jesus turns His thoughts to the way we believers need to be living until that glorious day, which may or may not be in our lifetime. His description of His Kingdom continues…

The parable of the bridesmaids reminds me I need to live this life prepared for His return. I need to repent of sin, grow in grace, live every day expecting to meet Him. Postponing getting prepared is a chance I’m not willing to take, because when that day happens – the death of this earthly body or His glorious return – that door will be closed, never to open again. He’s not going to “Wait a second” just because I need to take care of some things first. When that door is closed, I want to be on the inside through the precious blood of Jesus.

The parable of the talents encourages me to take stock of the gifts He has given me, and to ask myself if I am being a good steward of those things.

Have you taken one of those surveys lately to identify your gifts? I would suggest you do. There are plenty of them free on the internet. Then, get busy using those gifts for the Kingdom. Because the truth of the matter is, we are going to give an account one day before a Holy God who has told us to go into all the world to share the gospel, to care for widows, to care for the sheep, to give drink to the thirsty, cloth the unclothed, visit those in prison…

Don’t think for a minute God is going to take the “I didn’t know I had that gift” excuse for not using it. He HAS gifted you. And it’s up to you to identify it and put it to work.

How are we doing? God’s Kingdom isn’t a place to sit back and drink in all the blessings. God’s Kingdom is a war zone, a vineyard, a mission field. And God wants us to be active, productive citizens working with one eye on the lost, and one eye on the sky. We need to be changing the present one soul at a time, while looking ahead to that amazing day when we see Jesus face to face.