Watch and Be Ready
It’s eight pm. You are watching your favorite show when you hear the doorbell ring. I wasn't expecting anyone, you think. Lazily, you lift yourself off the couch and wipe the potato chip crumbs off your shorts. You then trudge over to the door, open it, and are surprised to find Jesus patiently waiting outside. He smiles when he sees you.
“Hello friend,” he says.
“Jesus,” you reply. You look back at the television, glad that it’s a commercial. “What are you doing here?”
He chuckles. “Well, I said I would come like a thief in the night, didn’t I? Just be glad that I didn’t climb through your window.”
You smile. You didn’t know that Jesus had a sense of humor. “Come in, make yourself at home.”
“Thank you.” Jesus steps in and does a double take of your apartment. There are clothes and leftover food strewn all over the floor. He lifts up a cockroach that has made its way over to his feet and examines it carefully. “A bit messy, isn’t it?”
“Sorry,” you feel your face heating up in embarrassment. “Didn’t really have time to tidy up.”
“It’s alright,” He sets the cockroach on top of a half eaten slice of pizza and turns back to you. He smiles. “I forgive you.”
“Thanks.” All of a sudden, your television show returns, and in a feat that can be considered nothing short of athletic, you leap over the sofa, dive for the remote, and turn the television off. Your heart racing, you turn your head to Jesus, who is looking at you slightly amused.
Instead of accusing you of anything, he pulls back his sleeve, looks at his watch and asks, “Are you ready to go?”
Still trying to catch your breath, you ask, “Go where?”
His look of eager anticipation fades into a frown. “You mean you aren’t ready to go?”
“I didn’t even know you were coming.”
“But - but,” Jesus looks disheveled for the first time. “I gave you so many warnings. So many signs. Didn’t you read the book of Revelations? I had John write it up all nice just for you.”
“No,” you walk over a pile of junk and find your Bible somewhere underneath it. “But I can read it now if -”
He cuts you off. “It’s too late. Look outside.” You glance at him and see sadness in his eyes. Then you pull back the curtains and take in the view of the street below. There are small fires everywhere, and people are running back and forth frantically, a majority of them having painful looking boils on their skin. The windows in the shops across the street are shattered, as are many cars below.
You turn back to Jesus. “How did this happen?” He takes an old newspaper off the floor and hands it to you. The headlines reads, “Large Earthquake Rips Apart South America”, “Sun Spontaneously Sets Fire To White House”, and “Religious Groups Openly Persecuted.”
Your jaw drops open. “When -”
“You forgot to watch for my return. I gave you all the signs and you didn’t even notice them.” A tear slides down the face of Jesus. “Now it’s too late.”
As you helplessly watch Jesus make his way back outside, a thought crosses your mind. I should have watched - I should have been ready.