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By Mike Caton

Acts 1:10-11, “They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’”

Can you imagine those 11 guys staring up into heaven? What do you think was going through their minds? Was it awe? Wonder? Astonishment? They had never seen anyone ascend into heaven that way before. And they still were not sure about the kingdom Jesus was going to establish. They were probably wondering what they had just seen and what they were to do next. But Jesus had already told them to wait in Jerusalem for the gift his Father had promised them, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And he just told them they would be his witnesses to the whole world. But for now, just wait for what God had promised them. But isn’t it oftentimes hard to just be still?

These two men are probably not men at all, but angels. And they ask the disciples why they are standing there looking into the sky. Maybe that is sometimes the question God wants to ask us: Why are you standing or sitting there, just staring at the situation you are in? Just looking at a problem usually doesn’t bring about much change. Sure, we need to ponder and think about what we are going to do, we need to develop a plan, we need to consider as many of the angles as we can. But the truth is, there comes a time to put that plan into action. The disciples have been told what to do, they just need to get up and do it. And so often, so do we. We just need to get up and go to work on whatever is ahead of us.

And rest assured, one day Jesus will come back. And the only thing that is going to matter on that day is are we ready? Have we lived our lives in such a way that we are ready to greet the returning king? Anything else we will have done will really not matter; the jobs we held, the money we made, the car we drove, what others called us, the list will be endless. The only thing that will matter will be have we committed our lives to God and lived to honor him? He is coming back – will you be ready?

Father, help me be ready. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Mike Caton is the preacher at Mount Olive Church of Christ in Belhaven. He volunteers at the Ponzer Fire Department and works as a full time AEMT with Hyde County EMS. Follow Mount Olive Church of Christ on Facebook for daily devotions.

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