The yard man was coming, and I wasn't ready. I had hired a lawn service to put some special ingredients on my grass so it would come up all green and happy when winter's chill finally headed out of town.

But I didn't know when the lawn service would send someone, and the residue of the previous autumn's leaf drop still lay on the ground. And there were the usual leftovers from a winter of windy days, kids building snow things, and trees losing their branches.

Day after day I feared that this would be the day. Unless I did some preliminary work, the yard man's activity would be less than successful. Finally, I found a Saturday when I had a few minutes to do my raking. It felt good to tie up that last bag of yard waste. Now I was ready!

I wonder. Do we ever feel that tension in our lives when we think about the any-moment return of our Lord Jesus? Do we think about all the things we need to get done? Those neighbors who need to hear about Him? Those words of forgiveness we owe someone? That back-burner relationship with God that must come to the front?

He's coming. We don't know when. What should we be doing today to keep us from being ashamed in His presence tomorrow? (1 Jn. 2:28).  — Dave Branon