Come, Lord Jesus: Living Ready

The Last Prayer

Erchou

And the verb is a present imperative — keep coming, be coming. It is the same word the Spirit and the bride use in verse 17: "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come."

The church's final recorded utterance is not a statement about the future. It is a request for it.

To a Person

And note who is addressed. Not an event, not a rapture, not a relief. Kyrie Iēsou — Lord Jesus.

You cannot long for a schedule. You can only long for someone.

With an Amen

And John writes "Amen" before the request, not after. He is agreeing with the promise before he asks for the fulfilment.

Faith says amen to the promise, then asks for the arrival. That order matters, because the amen is what makes the asking confident rather than desperate.

What Makes the Prayer Honest

The One Who Says It Must Be Ready to Be Found

And this is the searching part. If He came tonight, at the hour you would least choose, what would He find you doing?

Not "what would you be doing wrong" — that is the wrong question and the wrong kind of fear. What would He find you doing that you would have to explain?

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

And Jesus told a story about exactly this: ten bridesmaids, five wise and five foolish, and the difference was not sincerity but oil in reserve (Matthew 25:1–13).

The foolish were not wicked. They were unprepared, and unpreparedness is its own kind of unbelief.

The Servant Who Said "My Lord Delayeth"

And the harshest version is the servant who begins to smite his fellow servants and to eat and drink with the drunken because his lord delays (Matthew 24:48–49).

Delay is the test. Anyone can be ready for a week.

What Readiness Looks Like

A Clear Account

And readiness includes the ordinary: the debt being paid, the apology made, the tax filed, the promise kept.

Faith and wisdom keep the books clean, because the King might come on a Tuesday.

A Burning Lamp

And Luke's version says, "Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord" (Luke 12:35–36).

A lamp that is burning requires oil, and oil requires a habit of obtaining it.

A Steady Post

And the same passage says blessed are those servants whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching (Luke 12:37). Watching is not leaving your job; it is doing your job with your head up.

A Hopeful Heart

And Paul says let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet, the hope of salvation (1 Thessalonians 5:8).

Hope is armour. It belongs on your head.

The World Between the Advents

Already and Not Yet

And we live in the gap between the first coming and the second. The King has come; the kingdom is here in part; the consummation is still ahead.

That tension is not a problem to solve. It is a posture to hold.

The Spirit Keeps the Longing Alive

And it is the Spirit who says come alongside the bride (Revelation 22:17). He is not merely helping you endure the wait; He is producing the desire.

A heart with no longing for His return may have a doctrine without a relationship. And a heart that has stopped longing usually has something else it is holding too tightly — which is worth naming before it is worth defending.

The Invitation Is Still Open

And the same verse adds, "And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Revelation 22:17).

Before the Bible ends with a prayer for Christ to come, it ends with an offer for you to come.

The last page of scripture is a doorstep, and the door is open.

The Boundary

Two guardrails.

First, readiness is not date-setting or panic. Faith and wisdom watch without calculating, and stay faithful without fear.

Second, readiness is not withdrawal. The same book that says come, Lord Jesus says occupy till I come (Luke 19:13). Keep working, keep serving, keep planting.

What This Means for You

1. Read Revelation 22:6–21 in one sitting.

2. Pray the six words out loud, slowly, and see what your heart does.

3. Name anything you would need to change before you could mean it.

4. Change it this week, not next year.

5. Live ready, and keep faith and wisdom together. Ready does not mean idle and it does not mean afraid. Pay the bill, love your people, keep the lamp lit, and keep watching.

Putting It to Work This Week

• Read Matthew 25:1–13. Note what could not be borrowed.
• Read 1 Thessalonians 5:1–11. Note the armour.
• Pray the last prayer every morning this week.
• Clear one account or one apology you have been postponing.
• Notice whether you are longing for a relief or a Person.