Prepare To Meet Thy God

Prepare to Meet Thy God

The Billy Graham Center Museum in Wheaton, Illinois, chronicles not just the life of the world’s most famous evangelist, but also the history of evangelistic revivalism in the United States from its earliest days. The usual suspects are there, of course—Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, Sojourner Truth, Billy Sunday, and George Beverly Shea—but Johnny Carson was a surprise (Graham appeared on his late-night show), as was Johnny Cash (a personal friend of Graham’s).

The image from the museum that I can’t quite shake, though, is a small, odd one: an ornate plate (perhaps prepared for some turn-of-the-century church banquet or celebration) inscribed on its face with the message “Prepare to meet thy God.”

I chuckled when I saw it. Imagine sitting down to a fine meal and seeing that foreboding message on your dinner plate! (It might make you suddenly wish for a food taster.) The words on the plate were spoken by the prophet Amos to the people of Israel: “Prepare to meet your God in judgment!” (Amos 4:12). Amos was telling the people to turn from their sin, because one day they would answer to God. And so will we.

But beyond a warning, “Prepare to meet your God” could also describe a lifestyle of loving devotion to the one with whom we will spend eternity. When I love my neighbor, I am preparing to meet my God. When I pray or worship or work or create, I am preparing to meet my God, who is the object of my worship, the recipient of my prayers, the impetus for my work, and the source of my creativity. I am coming to know him better and to love him more—and therefore, I am preparing to meet him with joy when we are finally face to face.

“Prepare to meet thy God” may have once been a phrase used to sober up sinners to the prospect of meeting a holy, judging God—and it may well have worked for many. But for those for whom Jesus has borne God’s judgment, it’s the sweetest of all invitations: in all you do (today!) prepare to meet your God.

Know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from the fathers, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ.

1 Peter 1:18-19, HCSB