“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2).

When Jesus returns, there will be no more time for warnings. “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. . . . Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (Matthew 24:40–44).

“They that were ready went in with Him to the marriage: and the door was shut” (Matthew 25:10). The wise virgins of the parable of Matthew 25 can be likened to the wise man of Matthew 7 who knew the Lord and who evidenced that relationship by not only hearing the sayings of the Lord, but also doing them. Jesus has deliberately told us He has gone to prepare a place for us: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:3). He has also said “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3).

How does one prepare for the Lord’s return? The answer is in the Lord Jesus Christ. A body was “prepared” (Hebrews 10:5) for Him, “by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). To repent is to face squarely the fact that it is my sin that necessitated Jesus saying: “This is my body, which is broken for you” (I Corinthians 11:24); “this cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20); and to turn from that sin. “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22:20) CJH