Are you ready?

Sometimes people look at the evil around them—the crime, the violence, the natural disasters—and just wish that God would intervene already and set all things right.

But do they really understand what they’re asking for?

God told the people,

There will be wailing in the streets and cries of anguish in every public square.

The farmers will be summoned to weep and the mourners to wail. There will be wailing in all the vineyards. (Amos 5:16–17)

Why?

“For I will pass through your midst,” says the Lord. (Amos 5:17)

In other words, when God comes, things will be made right, but that doesn’t just mean all the things we think of as evil. It means everything.

All the sin in the hearts of people everywhere will be dealt with—including yours.

And so God said,

Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord! Why do you long for the day of the Lord? That day will be darkness, not light.

It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall, only to have a snake bite him.

Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light—pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness? (Amos 5:18–20)

What is God saying?

People think that when God comes that will be the end of earthquakes, crime, violence, and every other evil that we see.

That’s true. But if there’s evil in your heart as well, then you will be judged too.

That’s what the people of Israel didn’t consider when they longed for the day of the Lord.

They thought they were right with God, but they were far from it.

They had their religious feasts, gave all kinds of sacrifices and offerings to God, and thought they were okay with God as a result.

But the rest of the time, they were living for themselves. And because of this, their feasts, sacrifices, and offerings meant nothing to God.

And so while they thought all the evil they suffered through would come to an end when God showed up, in reality, it would be worse for them.

One reason things were so bad was that God was trying to warn them to repent through all the evil they saw. But they didn’t.

And so when God showed up, they’d soon find that what they longed for would not be their salvation, but rather their time of reckoning and judgment.

As God said, they’d escape the lion (the struggles of this world) to face the bear (judgment for their own sins). In short, they were not ready to meet God when he came.

How about you? Are you ready to meet God?

It’s not enough to be religious. It’s not enough to go to church, give tithes, and do good things on Sunday.

Rather, your whole life must be given over to him—your whole heart, soul, and mind.

You need to stop trusting in yourself and your own works to save you, and to start trusting Jesus and his work on the cross.

For those who have done so, the day of the Lord will be a day of rejoicing.

For those who haven’t, it will be a day of reckoning and judgment.

Are you ready?