Company Behavior

I have a question for you. What do you do when a special friend you haven't seen in a while calls to say they're coming over and are only 15 minutes away? You lounge around waiting for them right? Yeah, right. If you're anything like me, you probably rush around the house picking up things, taking out the trash, stuffing things in closets, maybe change out of your work clothes into something nicer, start some coffee, throw some cookies on a plate, tell the kids to behave extra well...And THEN, you lounge around waiting, right? Probably not. You've probably used all your time. As they walk up to the door, you put on your best smile and your mind races as you think of the dirty laundry you forgot to pick up in the living room, the crumb you notice on the entry floor, the dirt mark on the carpet that you didn't have time to vacuum, and the toy under the couch that you didn't quite shove back far enough.

This last week, I was reading the Gospels. I was reading two different versions, so I basically read them all twice. Anyway, I happened to notice the words, (about 8 different times or more) "Watch and pray, prepare your house, for you do not know when the Lord will return, and it will be like a thief in the night." (Paraphrase) And then, on top of it all, I had a discussion loosely based off of these words and the topic of company behavior with Mr. O. (A good friend from church)

And, I got to thinking.

Ok, now for a rabbit trail. Am I allowed to say I was thinking? I took a personality test, (very fun and accurate, the link is http://www.personalitypage.com/high-level.html and you can read the descriptions of your personality here: http://www.personalitypage.com/high-level.html) Anyway, my type was a something something "T." T stands for how much I relying on Thinking vs. Intuition (N) I got a T, but, apparently, I only Think 1% of the time. Or maybe it's supposed to mean that during my life I will have only Thought for 1% of it. So the question is, if I say was Thinking, am I using up my 1%? Um, yeah, that was a rabbit trail. A big one.

Anyway, I was using 1% of my brain, and I connected the two.

So, here are the facts.
1: Jesus WILL return.
2: It'll be like a thief in the night.
3: If you know the thief is going to come, you get ready for him. You set up a barricade, hide the silver...etc.

Logical Conclusion:

We know He's coming, so we prepare for Him. But since we don't know WHEN He's coming, we have to be prepared all the time! I know, we've all heard that before. But hey, Scripture talks a lot about how we need to remind ourselves/our children of these things.

So, Unlike our scenario at the beginning where we rush around fixing things at the last minute and not having time to do it all, we should KEEP our house in order all the time. Yeah, right! I can hear humphing in the background. Like anyone can do that. I've got 10 kids...or, a job...No one can keep their house clean all the time. Yes, I know, I can't do it either. But you can try. Because, Like our story at the beginning, He IS an unexpected guest. A special one. One who will see the toy under the couch, the un-vacuumed floor. And he'll say: I told you I was coming, why didn't you make ready.

But if you TRY...Sure, maybe it won't be possible to get all the way into that corner over there. He'll see it, but He'll know you tried and He'll say: Well done, good and faithful servant.

What would the world be like if we were on Company Behavior all the time? If we always wore our best smile, if we always behaved extra well...?