You do not know....

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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.

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