Luke 12

Watchfulness

³⁵ "Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, ³⁶ like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. ³⁷ It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. ³⁸ It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. ³⁹ But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁰ You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."  

   

 

The first thing we must note here is that Jesus makes it clear that no one can know when he is coming again or when God will bring the world to its fruition. He says here, the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. I've said before and say again that it is wasted spiritual energy to try and figure out when the world will end. The most notable passage in this regard is found in the Gospel of Mark 13:32...But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

 

At the same time, Jesus does make it clear here that we are to be ready; we are to be attentive. In essence, our daily lives need to be of such faithfulness that we are ready to be scrutinized by the Master when he comes. Now, obviously, none of us will ever be perfectly ready; none of us can say that on any given day we are absolutely all that Christ expects us to be.

 

Perfection is not Christ's expectation; but progress in obedience is. Perfection is not the standard by which Christ holds us accountable but regular progress toward Christlikeness is.

 

One Christian thinker asks the question in this way, How we would like God to find us? Will He find us diligent in our works of justice and goodness in this world? Will He find us faithful in sharing the person and message of Christ? Will He find us seeking to be at peace with everyone; at least as much as we can? Will He find us ever seeking to grow in spiritual depth and Biblical understanding?

 

One doesn't have to be an end-of-the-world spouting figure to take seriously the call to be diligent and faithful servants of Christ. Living each day in such a way that it glories God and honors Christ is a positive model for each of us.