2604) When I was a teacher, we would have fire drills so that if a fire happened, the adults and students would be prepared. (We actually had a fire once at school, and this preparation helped tremendously.)

I am interested in always being prepared for the unexpected things in life. In this preparation, however, I hadn’t considered what 1 Peter 1:13 reveals. Here, Peter tells us to prepare our minds for action because grace is coming in Jesus himself.

When I think about this verse, the idea of being prepared for grace is hard to imagine. For those of us who have asked God to forgive us our sins, because of Jesus’ sacrificial death, we have the embodiment of grace in Jesus, literally coming back to earth.

What is difficult about this thought is that if you are not God’s child, forgiven of all sins, Jesus is coming, but not to bring them grace because grace, in this sense, has a deadline.

I can prepare myself for Jesus’ coming by recognizing his grace has saved me. Others should prepare for Jesus’ coming by asking for his grace; otherwise, Jesus is coming as the judge. Grace or judgment. It’s an easy choice for me.