"Preparation"

 "But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city." (Hebrews 11:16 KJV)

  ""Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on and apron, and serve them as they sit and eat! He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn. But whenever he comes, he will reward the servants who are ready. "Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would not permit his house to be broken into. You must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected."" (Luke 12:35-40 NLT)

 So, here is a little twist on the illustration in most people's mind regarding this verse in Hebrews, as we sometimes forget that we too have to prepare ourselves to enter into the house that God has prepared for us! Much like it was for those Israelites that prepared for the first Passover, they marked their doorposts with the blood of a lamb, cooked their meal, and got dressed; standing around their tables, with shoes on and staff in hand: as if they were ready for a journey. 

 There are several different Scriptures that are running through my mind, as to what this really looks like. The interesting thing that blows my mind, is that our preparation is really not all that hard, as a matter of fact, God is the one that does all the heavy lifting, so to speak: we just need to be ready to go! 

 The first thing that comes to mind, is the cross of Christ, which was most definitely hard on the Lord to go through it; but the result of what He did, made it very easy for us to have our sins washed away: we just needed to believe and receive the grace we were given! As easy as it might sound, many people are not able to believe it; not because they can't believe, but because they don't want to believe because they don't want to be changed or give up doing what they are doing. 

 Additionally, there are certain thing that seem hard to some, but they make things hard on themselves because they try doing them on their own, instead of letting God lead them. This has been one of my difficulties for as long as I remember! You know what I mean, it's a lot like that message about God telling someone to move a big rock, they obviously can't move. They push and push, but it never works, it only makes them discouraged and wanting to give up. When all the time, God was waiting for them to ask Him for help, which would have made their heavy burden rather easy! 

 It might not make total sense, but it really doesn't require strength to do what makes God happy, it only requires the real desire to serve Him, and He will make it very easy; as Jesus has said...

"Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light."" (Matthew 11:28-30 NLT)