

"Many of the people of Israel will he [John the Baptist] bring back to the Lord their God." Luke 1:16
On April 15, 1912, the giant ocean liner Titanic sank, with the loss of some 1500 lives. This disaster at sea has been the subject of many books. In the Library of congress, only books on Christ and on the Civil War (in that order) have exceeded those on the Titanic. Attention is called to the lack of preparation for such an event. The ship was considered unsinkable. Not nearly enough lifeboats were available.
Adequate preparation for all of life’s events and eventualities needs to be made. Parents help us to prepare for school. We need to prepare for the transitional time known as adolescence. As adults we prepare for marriage, for family life, for our jobs. We can’t run the risk of taking too much for granted. The most important preparation we need to make is to be right with God. Years ago crude signs along highways read, “Prepare to Meet Your God.” It was not altogether improper to post such signs along busy roads, for there many motorists meet their God in fatal accidents.
The need to prepare to meet God calls for more than a casual road sign. It calls for a more complete context – for a setting of life in which we are at peace with God as we travel or abide at home, as we work or rest, as we fulfill our overall vocation as Christians.
We were put on good terms with God at the time of our Christian baptism, when we were “implanted,” so to speak, into the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The faith created by water and the Word was nurtured through our reading and applying of God’s Word and through frequent participation in Holy Communion. Living in a state of grace, we are always prepared to meet God, regardless of when He calls us. Helping us are our pastors, whose calling it is, as was John the Baptist’s, “to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17).
PRAYER: O Lord, help me to be prepared at all times to meet You as I live my life in service to You. Amen.
(Devotions from "With Jesus Every Day" copyright 1997, CPH. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be printed, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of Concordia Publishing House. Permission is granted for one-time emailing of this link to a friend. For information on other devotional material, please contact CPH at 800-325-3040 or visit CPH at www.cph.org.)
Today's Bible Readings: Judges 4-6 Luke 13:1-22
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