Matthew 24:44 – Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. (KJV)

When our now 23-year-old daughter was in grade six, she had a very stark lesson on earthquake preparedness. When she came home from school the day of the lesson, we had to put everything else aside and make up an earthquake kit — complete with blankets, water jugs, can opener, flashlight, batteries, canned goods and a medicine chest. Having completed that, we then had to post in a prominent place a paper giving instructions on where to meet should we be in different places when an earthquake hit, and we also established that we would call my brother in another province as a check-in.

We checked the kit and changed the water from time to time.

Over the years, we've experienced the odd earthquake movement that seemed like a truck slamming into the side of the house. When one is in the shower, it gives pause to plan a little more carefully.

This past Wednesday, February 28th, an earthquake hit just outside Seattle, Washington, USA, and reverberated throughout Vancouver Island, the lower mainland, and into the interior of British Columbia. As I was in bed with the flu, it took a few frozen slow-motion seconds for it to sink in that my bed really was shaking and that we were experiencing an earthquake.

Our earthquake preparedness kit is intact in the closet. What, however, of my Christian preparedness kit? Using the Ten Commandments as my checklist, is everything in my life in order? Is the place where I am headed, when my time comes, prominently posted? Do I check my thoughts and actions on a regular basis, keeping them fresh and pure, or do I go along thinking everything is intact and doesn't need upgrading?

We are blessed to be given these wake-up calls that we may better prepare ourselves for whatever situations may arise.

Prayer: O good and gracious God, accept our thanks for the opportunities you afford us to get our lives in order, whether it be for an earthly or a heavenly shake-up. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, we pray. Amen.

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About the author:

Mary Daniel <marydee@shaw.ca>
Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada
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