When we maintain our readiness for Christ’s return by living according to his will, we can “prevent” him from saying to us, “I never knew you.” Call it preventive maintenance of our relationship with him. 

Then again, if we live outside of Christ's will and casually assume that he won't come in our lifetime, it may be too late for “remedial maintenance” of our readiness for him. The only time we have to prepare our minds and hearts to face him one day is during our lifetime now. After we die, our prep time is over.

In the same way we preventively maintain our work skills to avoid failure in our careers,  we must also maintain our relationship with Christ to avoid our loss of eternal life with him.

As we age and enter our “home stretch, ” we have two choices: to sprint to the finish line with all the prayer, faith and love of God and neighbor we can muster; or coast along enjoying the world’s fleeting surface pleasures until it’s too late to remedy our fitness for God’s kingdom.

So let us all be gatekeepers on the watch; always preparing, never sleeping, and never letting our spiritual guards down. Let us put our lives in Christ's hands and follow his straight and narrow path en route to the eternal life he promises us.

Reflections on the Gospel of Mark 13:33-37