I died about a half hour ago, along with seven other people. A fire alarm went off in the building in which I work. At the time, I was in a conference room with six other folks, and not one of us realized the alarm was sounding. It sounded more like a squeaky bearing in the ventilation system, so we just ignored it, continuing our meeting (in blissful ignorance) in an empty building other than the firefighters who were searching the building for the cause of the alarm. Two other workers were found, heads down, at work in their offices equally as ignorant as those of us in the conference room.
Failure one: We never heard and heeded the alarm.
Whenever an alarm goes off, everyone has two designated routes of escape to exit the building. Once outside, each building (A through J) has an assigned area to meet. Each building has a Fire Captain with a roster of their assigned building’s occupants. It is their responsibility to confirm that every occupant of their building is accounted for. It is my belief that each Fire Captain should have a radio for communicating to the Fire Captains from other buildings because it is common to be in buildings other than one’s assigned building at the time of an alarm. The Fire Captain for Building A could then communicate to the Fire Captain of Building G, “Hey, I have three of your people in my group.” The Fire Captain is also responsible for any guests who signed in at the front desk.
Failure two: No one even noticed that we were not at the assigned meeting area.
I’ve concluded that we are completely unprepared for a fire at my workplace.
In Luke 17 we read:
Verse 20
Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”…
Verse 26-35
“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”
At that point, no alarm sounding will be sufficient. As Paul told the Corinthians, “Now is the time of God’s favor. Today is the day of salvation.” When it is over, it is over. The alarm is sounding now. Give heed.
Victoriously in Christ!
– damon
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Very powerful message! Thanks for sharing and for the reminder that no one really knows when today might be their last day on Earth. We must all be “ready to go”