Standing on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, Rabbi Kirt Schneider delivered an urgent but hope-filled message calling Christians to prepare our hearts for the return of Jesus Christ.
“If Yeshua came back 60 seconds from now, would you and I, dear one, be ready?” Schneider asked.
He pointed to Acts, where Jesus ascended into heaven and the angels declared that He would return in the same manner. Schneider said this promise should shape how we live, love and serve God each day.
“You and I need to be ready for Jesus’ return,” he said. “We’re living, my friends, beloved brothers and sisters, in the end of the age. And we can’t just coast through.”
Schneider turned to Jesus’ parable of the 10 virgins. Although every virgin expected the bridegroom, only five kept their lamps burning and prepared for his arrival. Likewise, Christians must actively pursue God rather than settle for passive belief.
“They kept their prayer life burning. They kept their devotion. They kept praying,” Schneider said.
That preparation includes prayer, Scripture, fellowship with other believers, sharing the gospel and doing God’s will. Schneider described this eager obedience with the word “alacrity,” meaning we run to obey God without holding anything back.
“It’s not just to say, ‘OK, I’ll do it,’” he explained. “It’s rather when God tells us to do something, we jump up without holding anything back, giving Him our full heart and our full devotion, running to do His will.”
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A Season of Repentance and Renewal
Schneider connected the message with the Feast of Trumpets, also known as Rosh Hashanah. The biblical feast reminds God’s people that a heavenly trumpet will sound again and every person will meet the Creator.
Rather than inspiring fear, that truth should awaken us to repentance, love and wholehearted devotion.
“This is the season to shake the dust off us, to shake off the spiritual dirt, and to rise up with passion, to love Jesus, to run after Him, and to do His will,” Schneider said.
He encouraged Christians to remove judgment, accusation and ill will from our hearts while giving God and others our complete love.
“If we’ll prepare ourselves for that, there’s a reward that’s coming that you can’t even begin to fathom,” Schneider said. “Today’s the day we need to get ready.”
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a journalism background from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and at the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
