“He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”

– John 12:48 KJV

Benjamin Franklin once said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” As I consider this quote I am reminded of my years in high school and the preparation that it took to learn some of the basic skills to survive in this life.

In school we all knew that at some point, tests were inevitable. Sometimes, we had the dreaded “pop quiz,” no time to prepare, no time to fake an illness, just a quiz that really

tested what we knew about the given topic. Other times the test was announced weeks or maybe even months before they were given. With this much time to prepare, we could take our time to try and learn the topic as best as possible, but more than likely, most of us would wait until the week of the test or maybe even the night before the test and try to cram enough information into our head to pass the test.

But my favorite was always the test that we found out about on Monday that would be given on Friday. These were the tests that the teacher would give us all the test questions on Monday and as a class we would review and find the answer to each one during the week.When the test finally came on Friday we knew what the questions were going to be and we knew what the answers would be, but, sadly, many times people would still fail the test.

For someone to fail a test like that really showed the lack of preparation, attention and care to the subject at hand. It was no one else’s fault but their own that they failed. They knew when the test was, they knew what each question would be and they had all of the correct answers, but yet, because of a lack of concern, they failed.

Unfortunately, that is the approach many use when dealing with God. In God’s Word we find that God has told us that one day there is going to be a judgment (Romans 14:11, 12). Throughout the Bible we are told all the things that we will be judged on and how the judgment will be handled (Romans 2:2). God tells us how to be pleasing in his sight, how to acceptably serve him and most importantly, how we can have a home in heaven.

The only thing we don’t know is when that judgment will take place. Just like the test in school, God has given us all the questions and all the answers and has told us there is a judgment coming; we just don’t know when it will be.

In James 4:14 the Bible says, “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”

We don’t know when our life will end. The only thing we can do is be ready for when that time comes. Preparation begins with accepting Christ as your personal savior – failing to do so will result in an eternity in Hell. Preparation also includes being faithful and true to God’s word. Failure to do so will result in a loss of the blessings God has waiting to give each one of us. We each should examine ourselves and consider where we stand with God. Are we ready to meet him? Are we ready to give an account of ourselves to him? If we don’t prepare to stand before the Lord, we are preparing to fail.

“Footsteps” is column open to everyone wishing to express themselves on a topic related to faith, ethics or spirituality. Send contributions to news@lagrandeobserver.com.