A Time To Prepare

Mark 13:33: Take ye heed, watch and pray: For ye know not when the time is. 37- And what I say unto you I say unto all, watch.

Whenever I think of the second coming of Christ, I can't help but wonder about what is going on in the world today that will lead to it. Many of us have heard of the signs to look for, which is vital and important to know, but what can we be doing now to prepare for that time? What shouldn't we be doing to prepare for that time?

D&C 87:8 Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come; for behold it cometh quickly, saith the Lord, amen.

Our environment influences us in so many ways. It is remarkable to see how much change a person can have based on their outside influences. A story in the Book of Mormon about the Jaredites: To stage the history, this comes right after the confounding of the languages at the Tower of Babel. The Jaredites were a righteous people, but after the languages were confounded, the people around them were terrible. The Lord commanded them to leave, He promised if they did that He would lead them to a promised land (America). The Lord knew well enough that the influence of wicked people could lead them astray. Sometimes we must do the same. If we are surrounded by bad influences, peers, even buildings; we may have to change our environment or friends in order to find a new "Promised land" in our lives. Sometimes a fresh start is what we need, because changing before we placed in a situation is much easier than changing while you are in the middle of it. So stand in holy places, that your influences may guide you to happier and better paths.

Finally, we must be giving all that we can give unto the Lord. We are all imperfect people, but it doesn't mean we can't do our best.  2 Nephi 25:23 For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.
The Lord wants us to succeed, He wants to help in any way that He can. But He can't do everything for us, we must be willing to give all that we can give, which is far less than perfect, and then He can lift us the rest of the way and help us do much more than we could have done on our own. We can change, because of the Savior, we are able to overcome our weaknesses and become whole physically and spiritually. We can become much greater with God than we ever could without Him.


I do not know when Christ will come, but I do know what I can be doing. The world will get tougher and more wicked; we can make ourselves stronger to take it on. I know that when He comes, I want to be able to be in His presence, knowing that I did all that I could to follow Him, and have it be acceptable before Him. We can use today as A Time To Prepare. And when the time comes, it won't matter, because we are made strong with God.