You do not know....

-



 

Scripture

“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.
(Matthew 24:42 NASB)
“But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.
(Matthew 24:43 NASB)
“For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.
(Matthew 24:44 NASB)

 

Observation

Jesus was speaking of the fact that someday he would return again. He made one thing perfectly clear over and over again and that was that no one would know when he would be returning! His message was one of preparation. He said to be ready -- and interestingly, made the point to say that he would come when we don't think he will.....

 

Application


I am amazed at how many people spend time speculating about the second coming of Christ. Inordinate amounts of time are spent on trying to decipher dates and the signs of the times. However, I think Jesus is trying to make a point that end-time speculation is a futile attempt. Even Jesus Christ himself does not know when he will be returning. Over and over I hear people say that they believe that we are living in the last times, and maybe we are, but maybe we aren't! I think that final statement of Jesus is quite interesting. "The Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will." If you think about about it, if people truly knew when the Jesus were returning, they would live their lives any way they wanted until that moment and then would try to repent and turn to him. That's not Jesus' plan. Salvation is not about a moment in time, but a life given in wholehearted love and devotion to him. Why is there so much fascination and speculation about the moment when he comes? Maybe it's because we don't want to have to live in the moment as wholly committed followers of Christ. Being engaged in kingdom work is not an easy task.

Jesus' message is that we are to be ready every single day. Allowing ourselves to become consumed with speculation as to the future simply serves to distract us from the engagement of kingdom work to which we are called on a daily basis. Our calling is to be involved with him every single day of our lives. That is how we will be ready because, you do not know....

 

Prayer


Lord, may I be prepared and engaged. Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Take Off Your Ornaments

-
Scripture: Ex. 33:4 ¶ When the people heard these harsh words, they mourned, and no one put on ornaments. Ex. 33:5 For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, and I will decide what to do to you.’” Ex. 33:6 Therefore the Israelites stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward. Observation: The people had sinned before God by making and worshiping the golden calf!  They had taken their golden jewelry — the earrings and other items they had gotten from the Egyptians and used them to create an idol.  Now, in an act of humility and repentance they were to take off all of their jewelry and ornaments.  It was a time of mourning over their sin and it included intentional action on the part of the Israelites.  Application: We don’t do all that well with humility and repentance!  It seems that we live in a ti...
Read more

Does God Value Boys More than Girls?

-
Scripture: Lev. 12:1 ¶ The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Lev. 12:2 Speak to the people of Israel, saying: ¶ If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be ceremonially unclean seven days; as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. Lev. 12:3 On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Lev. 12:4 Her time of blood purification shall be thirty-three days; she shall not touch any holy thing, or come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification are completed. Lev. 12:5 If she bears a female child, she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation; her time of blood purification shall be sixty-six days. Lev. 12:6 ¶ When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. Lev. 12:7 He shall offer it before the LORD, and make atonement on her ...
Read more

On Grief and A Flute Player

-
Scripture: Matt. 9:23 When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, Matt. 9:24 he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. Matt. 9:25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. Matt. 9:26 And the report of this spread throughout that district. Observation: This is a simple story which we have heard or read numerous times. Jesus heals the little girl and the people rejoice. But at the moment in which he arrives at the home he encounters the professional mourners. These are the flute players, the ones who have come to make a great noise about the child’s death. It is the flute player that testifies to the fact that she is truly dead. Also, flutes were generally employed when it came to the death of a child. The whole community would therefore understand that it is a child who has died in this home. The flute player is doing the job they have ...
Read more