I'm Joni Eareckson Tada and welcome to Joni and Friends.
When I was a little girl, the neighbor kids down the street were my idols -- I so much wanted to be like them; I so much wanted to do stuff with them. I remember the time their parents asked my folks if I could go to the community pool with them. We piled into their station wagon amidst inner tubes, beach towels, bag lunches, and snorkeling stuff. This was going to be great! But when we arrived at the pool, my friends headed straight for the deep end. Well, I kept running on their heels but skidded to a stop at the diving board. I had never been in the deep end before. I had never dived off a board before. I pranced around the edge of the pool, pretending to be a part of things when actually I knew I hadn't been prepared for all this and I felt left out.
You know, being prepared is more than a Boy Scout motto. For instance, most Christians hope to go to heaven one day. Maybe we even feel excited about the idea... well, I don’t know: streets of gold, no more worries, no more pain or tears, just jumping from one planet to the other. But think about it a little more deeply: are you really prepared? After all, heaven, first and foremost, is a holy place. Its inhabitants are all holy. And to be happy in Heaven, you must be prepared to be holy; our hearts need to be in tune to holiness. I mean, how can you possibly look forward to worshiping the Savior for eternity if down here on earth you skirt Sunday services because you find worship a little too tiring, a little too boring at times? Or, how will you be able to take in your hands the hands of Jesus Christ when you meet Him, and feel His nail scars if down here on earth you run your Christian life, when you call the shots or you only give prayer and Bible reading a tip of the hat? Do you honestly think you are going to be thrilled to meet Jesus after selfishly clinging to the very sins for which He died? Do you think Scripture reading, hymn singing, and praying are dull down here on earth? If that's the way you feel now, I'd say you're in for a shock when you enter holy Heaven.
Isaiah 25 says that, “In that day they will say, ‘Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.’” Friend, it will be a place where you can look back and say, yes, we trusted in God while we were on earth; we obeyed Him. Can you say that now? If not, what would give you reason to say it in heaven? And another thing, are you prepared to "rejoice and be glad in his salvation?" Because if you don't feel excited about your salvation now... what makes you think you're going to be excited about it then? Friend, obedience is always the best way to get prepared!
Heaven is a prepared place for prepared people -- people who delight in holy living. So if you consider Christian disciplines to be somewhat boring here on earth, then you've been listening to the wrong songs. Friend, get ready, because heaven is just around the corner. And that means being prepared by getting in tune with those Christian disciplines of worship, fellowship, obedience, and trust in God. When you’re active in those things, you’re getting prepared for heaven in the best way possible.
And speaking of getting prepared, I want to prepare you to celebrate the upcoming birth of our Savior. Don’t forget that today is the last day you can get your Christmas cards that I designed for this year. They’re free and all you need to do is just visit me at joniandfriendsradio.org, or you can call toll-free 888-522-5664. Again that’s joniandfriendsradio.org.
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