Keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them from the fire, and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.     Jude 1:21-23 NASB

I heard the term locked and loaded more often when I was working in law enforcement. It is said to have originated in the military. It refers to a bullet getting loaded and locked before firing and became military slang for being ready to go.

So, if someone says, “locked and loaded” it means they are ready to go. It is often used when going into situations where one needs to be prepared for confrontation or trouble. What I want to know today is are you locked and loaded? Are you ready for troubled times? Are you prepared for confrontation? Most importantly, are you ready to go?

Just the other day I was talking with a friend about the preparations we now take for hurricanes since we have gone through Katrina and Ida. We have learned what we must have on hand to go through a few weeks without power. Due to my husband’s job, we were even saying how we need to be prepared to be able to access the internet should ours go down for a couple of weeks as it did with Ida.

We prepare for things like birthdays and Christmas by budgeting. We prepare for the possibility of someone breaking into our home by installing alarm systems.

Many people prepare for all sorts of things.

If you look around you, however, you will see that few are prepared for death. Many believe that preparing for death means having life insurance to provide for your family, having burial insurance to cover final expenses, and having a funeral that is planned and paid for.

I’m talking about preparing for death by having reservations for your eternal lodging. Is your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? Do you know beyond a doubt that you are saved and going to heaven? If so, good!

If you are not sure, I’m asking you to be sure. You may be prepared for anything that could possibly happen to you here on earth, but have you made final preparations to go to heaven? If you haven’t then I beg of you to draw near to God. We are told in James 4:8 to draw near to God and He will draw near to us. Get into a right relationship with Him. It’s not just about walking the aisle and/or being baptized. This does not guarantee that we will go to heaven. It’s how we live day to day and the relationship we have with our Lord and Savior.

If you feel you are prepared to go to heaven, be sure. Be sure you are doing all that our Scripture passage tells you to do. Keep yourself in the love of God. Be obedient and faithful by living out His salvation. Build yourself up in God’s word. Pray in the Holy Spirit and be prepared to go to heaven. Let others see God’s love and mercy through you.

Eagerly anticipate Christ’s second coming. Have mercy on those who doubt. We will encounter doubters who need compassion. We will encounter those who don’t believe and need to be pulled from the fire.

We will also encounter those who claim to believe or once believed but have abandoned that belief. These must be handed with fear as their unbelief could stain us or cause us to stumble.

If I were to ask you today if you were ready to go when the Lord calls you home, could you honestly say yes? Are you locked and loaded and prepared for whatever comes your way in the meantime? Are you prepared to be merciful to unbelievers and do your best to snatch them from the fire? Are you discerning enough to know when to walk away for fear they will drag you down?

Are you locked and loaded, ready for confrontation or trouble, and ready to go when the time comes? My prayer for you today is that you were honestly able to answer yes to that question.

Have a great day!