"Don't Get Caught"

"That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." Ephesians 5:27

All my life I was taught that the Lord Jesus will return and when He does return don't let Him find you somewhere where you shouldn't be. So therefore, there were certain places that we did not go for fear that He would return and that's where He would find us. You don't hear much teaching like that any more. It wasn't a bad teaching because if did promote the "fear of God" in our lives. There seems to be a lack of the "fear of the Lord" any more- it certainly isn't in the world, and it's not very evident even in the church.

I was thinking about this subject- where I don't want to be when He returns and what I don't want Him to catch me doing. As I thought about it, I felt like the Lord took it a step further. I was taught this in terms of my physical location- don't be caught in a bar room, in a casino, etc. But what about your "spiritual" condition? What about the things that go on inside? When He returns, I don't want Him to catch me in bitterness. I don't want Him to find me in a place of unforgiveness, a place of anger, a place of contention. I don't want Him to catch me having immoral thoughts, cheating, in lies, causing disunity or discord, in a state of complaining and murmuring, and so on.

When He returns, I want Him to find me in a place- physically and spiritually- that will glorify Him. I want Him to catch me walking in love, forgiving those who trespass against me, bearing the Fruit of the Spirit, being kind, gentle, tenderhearted, being a peacemaker. I want Him to find me with a pure heart and a clear conscience before Him.

If He were to return today, where will He find you? Where will your physical location be? But also where will you be on the inside, in the "hidden man"?

Have a great day. Be careful where you go, be careful what you do, be careful to deal with issues in your life that displease the Lord because you don't want Him to catch you in them when He returns.