Be Ready! // Luke 12:35-48

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“But think about it, imagine you were a servant in that house who was dressed for action, had the lamp burning, and was awake.

Now imagine if there were others in the household who didn’t know or didn’t believe the master was coming back.

They’d probably look at you like you were crazy, right.

“Why are you dressed in your work clothes, it’s midnight?”

“Why do you keep checking the lamp has enough fuel? Can’t you see it isn’t time to be working on that?”

“Why are you awake? Go back to bed!”

But no matter what is said, you keep going, because no matter how ridiculous what you’re doing may look in the quiet middle of the night, when you hear the car pull up and the footsteps sound outside the door, when He arrives, it will all make sense.

So we are called to live today in light of the coming day, when Jesus returns. Not because my actions today will win me the treasure I get then, but because my actions today reflect whether I believe it has truly been won for me by Jesus.

And let me say, if you haven’t trusted in Jesus then there is a clear and urgent call for action here in your life: the King of everything is coming back and you’re not ready for that day. Your life, your brokenness, your willing choice to live your life apart from God and by your own standards separates you from Him and places you as His enemy. The Bible says there is only one way to be prepared: trust in Jesus. Everyone was separated from God, I was. But he died to break the separation between us and God, He did what you can’t to make you ready for the day, and He did it as a gift received by faith. So turn and trust in Him today.

Now you might hear me say that, and you might think “fine, whatever, I don’t think I believe this stuff anyway, so I’m going to go on trusting my own way”. And, you know, your life will make sense to you and to a lot of the world until the day when Jesus returns. He is coming, and if you leave it until then it will be too late. Trust Him to save you now, it’s the best choice you could ever make.

Now the second aspect of the waiting we are called to is that it is constant.

To live in a way that actively waits for the return of Jesus is not just a matter of going to church once a week, or spending a short time each day reading the Bible and praying because then your duty is done and you’re ready for another day.

The tasks Jesus describes, especially keeping your lamp burning, are not ones that you just do and leave. They are constant.

And, incidentally, a Jewish wedding feast could last days, even a week, so Jesus is creating this picture of us being ready all the time, over a potentially long time.” 

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