Jesus is Essential
Luke 12:35–40: “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
The attitude of the believer to the return of Christ is to be one of the readiness, having “the loins … girded”—doing all we can for Him, and living in expectation of His return. When the figure changes from the “bridegroom” to the “thief,” it is to emphasize the element of an unexpected appearance. Paul used the same figure of speech for Christ’s second coming. However, the Lord does not come as a thief to Rapture the church. Rather, we shall arise to meet Him in the air. 1
Walking with Jesus
If Jesus were to come this week, what would He find you doing? Would you be doing His will diligently, and in a way that glorified Him? Or would you be shocked at His sudden return, and unprepared to welcome Him?
For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 1 Thessalonians 5:2
The church needs men who take seriously their post as watchmen on the wall.
Praying
Lord, teach me to set aside myself to pursue You, and the work of Your Kingdom.
1. McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Gospels (Luke) (electronic ed., Vol. 37). Nashville:
