Can I Be Ready?

Mark: I was signing some paperwork last week, the what-happens-if-I'm-gone kind, and my pen just stopped. Can anyone actually be ready for whatever comes after?

Sarah: Mark, I'm glad you said that out loud. I've wondered the same thing. There's a passage in Hebrews that doesn't dodge it, so let's read it together.

Scripture: Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this, judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, without sin, to those who are eagerly waiting for him for salvation.

Mark: Okay, that's blunt. That word judgment makes me want to look away. Honestly, it sounds like a door slamming.

Sarah: But look at what's around it. The writer says Jesus appeared once, to put away sin by giving himself. To me, that reads as a rescue, not a slammed door.

Mark: Why does the once part matter so much?

Sarah: Right before this, he compares it to a high priest going in year after year. Jesus didn't have to repeat it. His one offering put away sin, the writer says.

Mark: Here's my problem, though. I've got a lot I'm not proud of. Don't I have to clean myself up before I'm ready?

Sarah: I don't read it as asking you to clean yourself up first. I'm no better than you, Mark. I read it as pointing to what Jesus did, offered once to bear the sins of many, and to him appearing for those eagerly waiting.

Mark: Part of me wants that. Another part is wary of being rushed into anything.

Sarah: Then no rush at all. You could simply talk to God and bring every question. I love you, and I'd love to see you there with me someday.

Sarah: Whatever you're carrying about the end of the road, the writer says Jesus has been offered once to bear the sins of many. If you'd like more honest conversations like this, you're welcome to follow along.