I’m not sure if anyone enjoys a fire drill. Drills come at inconvenient times, and it seems like no one takes them seriously at all. I was recently walking through a hospital, on an elevator, when a fire drill happened. At first, the rude siren only interrupted my thoughts for a brief second until I tuned it out. Then the accompanying strobe light gave me pause just long enough to consciously ignore it. When we got out of the elevator, no one was even breaking stride. I wondered how a true emergency requiring all of the skills would be handled. I guess someone screaming through the halls “this is for REAL, people!!” might garner some attention. It would likely only make people sniff around for smoke and look for flames or for someone official, perhaps with a clipboard, holding doors open and saying “right this way – please move calmly, but with urgency as THIS BUILDING IS ON FIRE!” What has to happen for preparation to be taken seriously?

There are drills for all sorts of scenarios: the military runs them for missions, law enforcement for various scenarios, EMS for health emergencies, and FEMA for natural disasters. On a smaller scale, at our homes, there are jumper cables and spare tires for car emergencies, propane, flashlights, and batteries for power outages – the list goes on.

In each situation, preparation is key. And preparation isn’t a one-time deal. You prepare, then practice to maintain your skills, and check equipment to ensure it is ready when necessary. All the while you breathe prayers that you will never need to actually use the skills and equipment that stand at the ready.

Do you know the biggest motivation for careful attention to preparedness? Experience. A person, family, business, or community went through the crisis, and either was prepared and made it through, or they were not prepared and suffered devastation.

Jesus told a parable of a foolish man who built a house on sand. I picture this guy as a bit of a surfer dude whose whole desire is to catch the waves at their best, and he has a bungalow on the beach. He isn’t thinking of the fact that his house and his family won’t survive the weather that brings the best waves. The wise man who built his house on the rock was prepared. My guess is at one time, he was the surfer dude – or knew the guy who was. Sure, the wise guy took longer to build his house – especially getting the permits – but the time, effort, and cost yielded rewards. “The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.”(Matthew 7:25-26) The foolish guy lost his home and all of the collateral things that go with that.

I believe Jesus used this parable to tell us the value of preparing…specifically, for His return. When we know Jesus as Savior and Lord, we realize this world is preparation for living in His Kingdom for eternity.

There are people in this world riding the waves of popular culture, power, money, pleasure, and the like, with no regard for their house. They are not prepared for the storms of life. They are not prepared for the afterlife. Jesus warns us that in life, storms will come. At the end of life, there will be an accounting for our acceptance, or rejection, of Jesus. We have this life to prepare.

Standing on the rock of Jesus, who “does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17), gives us the firm footing to weather the storms. The more we learn about Jesus’s strength and faithfulness helps us trust Him in our storms. The more we meditate on His love for us and patience with us, the more we will desire to be with Him.

Studying the preparation manual, the Bible, equips us for the now and the forever. Being part of a network of believers in Jesus, we can encourage one another that we are temporary residents here on this stormy earth – and paradise awaits.

No other leader of any other religion loves you and wants a relationship with you. Nothing we cling to, other than Jesus, offers a sure way to spend eternity in heaven. This life is a drill. Prepare.