By: Denny

Since my retirement I’ve had a lot of time to contemplate about life. I’ve come to the conclusion that for the most part our whole lives are structured around events. As a kid there were three big events I looked forward to:  Christmas, my birthday, and the end of the school year. Of course, there were the daily and weekly lesser events that filled in the gaps. They weren’t written down on a calendar hanging on my bedroom wall, but I anticipated and looked forward to them. One event was hurrying home from school to watch “Leave it to Beaver” or playing “Army” with the guys in the neighborhood. I wasn’t as enthusiastic when it came to events of mowing the grass and other chores. Winter was a fun event that meant going sledding, ice skating, snowball fights or building forts. These days it isn’t a fun event anymore with the cold temperatures and having to move snow. My brother and I both had daily paper routes. We collected the money from our customers on Friday, then rode our bikes downtown to the newspaper office on Saturday to turn in the money and get paid. It was a fun time if some friends rode along, and we all went to a matinee movie. It was also a big event when we had both saved enough money to buy new Schwinn bikes with baskets to carry the newspapers. I always looked forward to going to our Grandparents houses or when they came to see us. When I was a little older, I would spend my whole summers on my aunt and uncle’s farm which was a special event I always enjoyed.

 We all have memories of past events stored away in our minds, and they can be good as well as bad. Life is basically a chain of events with links being added daily. An event doesn’t always have to be a big thing. It can be something you do out of necessity, free will, compulsion, personal enjoyment, obligation, or a whole host of other reasons. As an adult you probably get up every day for an event called a job. It can sometimes become a drudgery or a mundane thing, but you do it so you can finance your other events such as paying bills. Your values and lifestyle determine, influence, guide, and help to plan your own personal events. A simple example is grocery shopping. You usually make a list and decide in your mind’s calendar what day the event will happen.  On your way you see that you need gas and realize that event needs to happen right away to prevent the event of calling for help. A big event such as a vacation requires much more time, effort, and planning. Those are the types of events you write on the calendar and count down the days. The calendar in your mind works fine until you get “event overload” and start to forget things. That’s why calendars, day timers and clocks were invented. Seriously, how would you know what day, date, or time the scheduled event was to happen without them as a point of reference. Talk about confusion and chaos! I’m sure nobody else has this problem, but as I get older if I don’t write an event on the calendar, I’m apt to forget it. Part of that could also be a guy thing, but not if it’s an event we get excited about. Who among us men need to write the Superbowl on the calendar? However, those of us with wives are doubly blessed because they forget nothing and remember everything. So, at this point in my life there are still three events I’d better not forget: Lucy’s birthday, our anniversary, and Valentine’s Day.  

Calendars usually come with all the national holidays and some other significant days preprinted on them. They have extra space to enable you to write in your own events. A lot of organizations print or post online a calendar of upcoming events. There are some life events that can’t be prewritten on a calendar because you don’t know when they will happen. For instance: an accident, a sudden illness or injury, unexpected car or home repairs, devastating weather events, and a whole bunch of other events that life throws at us. Not to worry though, because you can buy insurance for just about anything these days. It can’t prevent the event but can ease or completely compensate you financially when it occurs. Sometimes the events I just mentioned can happen multiple times, but the event to end all your events is when you die. Nevertheless, you can prepare for that too with life insurance, having a will, and making other funeral arrangements ahead of time. It doesn’t help you much but makes life easier for those you leave behind. There is an amusing saying that is said about someone who is always late for an event that they’ll probably be late for their own funeral. Jokingly, they may be late, but they won’t miss the event.

The biggest event yet to come that the world will see is the return of Jesus Christ. Jesus spoke of it and warned people to be ready because only God the father knows the day or hour it will happen. In Matthew 25 Jesus tells the parable of the ten virgins to further explain it. We would call them bridesmaids today. Evidently back then it was the custom for the bridesmaids to wait for the bridegroom and escort him to the marriage feast. All ten were anticipating the event, but only five were prepared and brought oil for their lamps. It says the bridegroom was delayed and they all fell asleep. At midnight the announcement came, “Behold the bridegroom is coming, go out to meet him!” They all awoke and lit their lamps, but the lamps of the five who didn’t bring oil went out. They begged those other five to give them some of their oil and they answered, “No, there isn’t enough for us and you too, go buy some for yourself.” While they hurried off to buy oil, the bridegroom came and the five who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast and the door was shut and locked. Later the five who went to buy oil showed up and knocked on the door wanting to be let in. The answer was, “Go away! I don’t know you and you’re too late!” In other words, they missed the event. Jesus gave several warnings to watch and be ready because His return would be at a time when people least expected. The five without oil thought they were ready, but the event proved them wrong.  Therefore, the question you need to answer is, are you prepared, watching, and ready; or will His return prove you wrong also? You can be ready by receiving Jesus Christ as your savior and accepting His shed blood alone as payment for your sins. Ask Him for forgiveness, repent, and give your life to Him. The Last Big Event could happen at anytime unless you die first. Either way you’ll want to be on the right side of that door when it is shut. There is no insurance policy you can buy or borrow someone else’s oil to cover your loss in the event you aren’t. Jesus knows those who are His and you can have and know that assurance today. Jesus said He was going to prepare a place for those who would believe and trust in Him and return for them later. Many think in their minds that His delay means He’s not coming back. Wouldn’t it be a tragedy if the place He intended for you in Heaven had a vacancy sign in front of it?