Are you prepared?

I am a Procrastinator (note the capital P). My motivation seems to thrive on the pressure of running out of time. During school and college, I was very successful, but my good grades did not come from weeks' worth of prep before the paper/test was due. No, I usually waited until the last possible moment I could start and get done on time. If I thought studying would take me 3 hours, I'd wait until 9 p.m. with intentions of going to bed at midnight. Most of the time, I'd underestimate the amount of time I'd need and end up pulling an all-nighter. During those frantic hours, my stress level would rise to the point of panic. Somehow, with God's help, I'd survive though and, most of the time, ace the test. Notice that my behavior seems always to be positively reinforced, which keeps me from changing.
This is not only a school issue. I know exactly how much time it takes to get to work. When the clock says 15 minutes til, I leave to get there a few minutes early. I refuse to leave 16 minutes til. Heaven forbid I don't get that one minute of freedom. Unfortunately, it takes only one minute to get distracted enough to not leave until 10 til. Instead of taking my sweet time, I'm pushing the gas petal down HARD and growling at slow drivers. Hmmm, maybe that's why I show up to work feeling grumpy sometimes...=) I even procrastinate cleaning. On Mondays, I host a Bible study at my house. It starts at 7. I have from whenever I wake up until 10:45 to be productive that day before work. You'd think that's the perfect time to prepare the house. Nope. I wait until I get home at 3 and don't start until 4, which leaves me very little time to cook dinner, eat and clean up after dinner.
Then you have my friend. You know who you are... She is the champion at being prepared. You should see her study notes. She types up binders full of notes at varying degrees of thickness that correlate with the time of studying. If it's a month before the test, she's study the thickest one; once she's mastered that, she'll progress to a slightly thinner one, and this continues until she can finally study a bare bone summary the day before the test. I might be exaggerating (let me know if I am), but not by much.

If our opposite tendencies transfer to the second coming of Christ, I just might be the woman at the mill who's left behind (Matthew 24:41). Jesus told us what happens to those who are not prepared. In Matthew 25, Jesus tells us a parable about ten virgins who are about to meet their bridegroom. Five of them are prepared and bring flasks of oil with their lamps. The other five don't. The bridegroom ends up being delayed but arrives at midnight. The girls with oil go on to the marriage feast with their bridegroom. The rest must go buy oil and are too late. The door is shut.
Matthew 24:42-44 says, “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected." My spiritual life cannot be yet another thing I procrastinate. I must stay awake and be ready NOW, not later. No one but God knows when he'll come back. Sure, Christ gives us the signs. Everyone seems to think they know when the rapture will happen. The truth is that no one really knows (Matthew 24:36). There honestly might not be a tomorrow (whether Christ returns or we get hit by a bus). We must be prepared TODAY for this reason. Is your life right with God.? Are you walking in the holiest life you can? If not, NOW is the best time to repent and allow God to fix your heart.
Don't be unprepared!