Willie brought his lit­tle Bi­ble,
With a grave and thought­ful look
In the eyes he lift­ed to me
From the pag­es of the book;
Tell me what this means, dear Pa­pa?
And he read me from God’s word
What it says of be­ing rea­dy
For the com­ing of the Lord.

Refrain

Are you rea­dy for His com­ing,
Be that com­ing soon or late?
Will you go and meet Him glad­ly
When he knock­eth at the gate?
No! I can­not meet Him glad­ly,
I’m not rea­dy now, I know,
And it may be that His foot­steps
Even now are at the door.

When I told him of the mean­ing
Of the words that he had read,
He was silent for a mo­ment,
Then looked up at me and said:
Tell me, are you rea­dy, Pa­pa?
O the child could lit­tle know
How the sim­ple ques­tion thrilled me,
As in shame I an­swered, No!

Refrain

If you can’t tell when He’s com­ing,
I should think you’d want to be
Always rea­dy, said my Wil­lie,
Looking grave­ly up at me.
Should He come to­night and call you,
You would have to say to Him:
I’m not rea­dy, O dear Pa­pa!
And his eyes with tears were dim.

Refrain

Then I clasped my dar­ling clos­er,
Smitten with a sud­den fear,
For the words that he had spok­en
Seemed to bring life’s end so near,
And my heart cried, O my Mas­ter,
There shall be no more de­lay,
Make me rea­dy for Thy com­ing,
Be that com­ing when it may!

Are you rea­dy for His com­ing,
Be that com­ing soon or late?
Will you go and meet Him glad­ly
When he knock­eth at the gate?
Yes, I’m rea­dy now to meet Him,
Be that com­ing soon or late;
I can run and meet Him glad­ly
When He knock­eth at the gate!