Ready and Working

Luke 12:35-48

³⁵“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, ³⁶and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. ³⁷Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. ³⁸If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! ³⁹But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. ⁴⁰You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” ⁴¹Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?” ⁴²And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? ⁴³Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. ⁴⁴Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. ⁴⁵But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, ⁴⁶the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. ⁴⁷And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. ⁴⁸But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

I believe one of Satan’s most insidious tools against us is complacency. He doesn’t have to torture us or scare us. He just has to convince us that everything is just fine and that we should sit back and do nothing. As we sit surrounded by our many earthly possessions, it is so very easy to become careless and unprepared when either death or the Lord comes. Knowing this propensity, Jesus spends some time teaching the disciples (us) how to avoid that pitfall and the answer lies in one word – readiness.

I have an app on my phone that will track a few key people in my life; my husband, daughter/son-in-law, and a few close friends. In a few short seconds, I can find out where any one of them is at that moment. It also can alert me when they leave their current location and are headed my way. It’s incredibly convenient and means we don’t have to text or call one another to determine arrival times. My phone alerts me when it’s time to get ready for them. Wouldn’t it be cool if Jesus were one of the contacts on that list?! Then I would know exactly when He plans to return. But alas, God has not planned His Kingdom that way and I get to wait and wonder just like everyone else as to when He will arrive on the clouds.

And really, that’s the way it absolutely has to be so that we don’t fall into the abyss of laziness and sloth. When I contemplate a sin (and I believe we almost always contemplate sin before doing it) I have to ask myself if I want to be caught in that activity should the Lord return while I’m doing it. Most certainly the answer to that is always “no” and I confess that even thinking about that doesn’t always stop me from sinning, but it sometimes it does. Readiness is a constant vigilance that will not end until Jesus does return.

Jesus uses a few different parables to illustrate His point. They are fairly simple and easy to understand. Would you rather be caught doing what you’re supposed to be doing or caught in the complacent laziness of assuming Jesus won’t return any time soon? It’s a no brainer. The end of this discussion centers on the fact that those who know Jesus personally are held to a high standard. We know He is coming back and should live like we believe that to be true. Those who don’t know of His eminent return are not held responsible for that lifestyle. While that may seem unfair – oh well. Jesus didn’t promise us fairness. Not at all. If we are counting on fairness, then we all land right in hell because that is what we deserve. No, instead we are held responsible for the knowledge of His Kingdom that He has given us through the Spirit, and we are called upon to live like we know Him.

Dear Lord God, please inhabit my thoughts and my actions through the power of Your Holy Spirit that I might live diligently with the certain knowledge that Jesus will return when the time is fulfilled. May I be found serving You and constantly prepared for your arrival as I live in Your Kingdom already here on earth. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.