A few weeks ago I came across this verse as I was reading through Amos, and the phrase "Prepare to meet your God" kept coming back to me.  How prepared are we to meet our God?  How would we react if we were told that we were to come face to face with God this day?

At face value we might well say that we are ready to meet God. We might well argue that we are Christians, that we have accepted Christ as our Lord, as our God, as our Saviour. But are we really ready to meet our God? The people of Israel whom Amos was prophesying against believed that they were ready to meet God. They were God's Chosen People, they were the Covenant People, they were from the line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob.  But they were not ready to meet God. Their religion was false, empty. They followed after other gods, they engaged in wrong practices in the temple, they preached a false message.

And we have to look at ourselves this day and ask are we ready to meet God?  God has done everything necessary for us to come to Him.  He has Loved us in such a way that He became a man, lived as a man, suffered as a man, died as a man, took the punishment for sin which was due to us upon Himself and we can enter into a right relationship with Him simply by accepting Him as our Saviour. But have we done so? Is our Faith in Christ real? Real enough that we are prepared to meet our God?

Christianity is not simply a lifestyle choice where we decide one day that we'll become Christians, we'll go to Church, we'll put our offerings in the plate, we may even go to a Bible study. Christianity is none of these things. It's about surrendering our all to Christ and making Him Lord over our lives.  It's about seeing ourselves as we really are, sinners, rebels, failures completely separated from God and yet at the same time believing that Christ has done everything necessary for us to be saved, accepting Christ as our Saviour, stretching out the empty hand of faith to receive God's free offer of grace.

And if we have done so, we should be looking ahead to meeting with God.  We should be praying that the Holy Spirit will come into our hearts, into our lives and that He will renew us spiritually, that He will make us into the people that He wishes us to be.  That we would be seen as being Christians not because of the things we don't do, but because of the things which we do do. That we would produce fruit worthy of Christ.  Let us pray that we would be a people with our eyes firmly fixed on Christ, that He would be the centre of our lives, and that we would indeed be prepared to meet our God.

Hugh Ferrier

Day 1

2 Kings 20:1-3

In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover. Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, “Remember, O LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly

Day 2

1 Thessalonians 5:8-11

But since we belong to the day, let us be self- controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

Day 3

Jude 17-23

But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires. These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear— hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

Day 4

Proverbs 24:10-12

If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength!Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering towards slaughter. If you say, But we knew nothing about this, does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?

Hosea 10:12

Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unploughed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.

Day 5

1 Peter 3:13-18

Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened. But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.