04/06/2023
“When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.” (John 14:3)
I believe most people think Jesus is talking about the conditions in heaven, when they are ready, since this verse follows the one in which he says he is “going to prepare a place” for those who follow him.
Here is another thought: maybe he’s making us ready for the place he has already prepared. If the world can be created—and all that is in it and around it—by his spoken word and in just a few days, making a room ready for us should be a snap.
I believe the place he has for us is so incredible that he’s working now on us to be sure we fit it. Have we grown in love, in forgiveness, in compassion, in praise, in prayer, in our appreciation for who he is? Are we suitable occupants for heaven? Yes, we believe in Jesus for our salvation, but do we follow in his footsteps, do we do what he does, have we grown up?
Paul writes that some of us are still drinking milk when we should be eating solid food. At the wedding feast of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9), Jesus will be sitting at the head of the table; I believe he wants us big enough to join him without a booster seat.