Word@Work Luke210 - Luke 12:35-40
Published: Tue, 10/12/10
Word@Work from BeaconLight
READY FOR THE RETURN OF JESUS
Luke 12:35-40 "Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." (NIV)
Middle Eastern weddings were quite an event with at least a week of feasting and much joy. Jesus uses this common event, with its eager excitement, to emphasise the importance of being ready for the bridegroom's return from the banquet with his bride. The analogy is filled out for us in the Epistles (Ephesians 5:25-33) in which the bridegroom is Jesus and the bride is His church.
The date for Christ's return is as unpredictable as the time of the end of the wedding feast. Only one thing matters: to be ready. Of course, those whose attention is easily diverted away from the purpose of the wedding may well miss the big occasion. In the same way, those who have little love for the Lord Jesus will not be anticipating His return. Such inattention would be unforgivable if a burglar had given advance warning of his arrival and then found himself free to ransack the house. In the same way, Jesus said that His disciples must be continually on the alert, not only anticipating Jesus' return but eagerly desiring it. Indeed, such people will spend their lives as a preparation for the moment when He comes. They will want to be ready and doing those things which would please their master.
Life in today's workplace is often busy and stressful. The priorities of the business and the continual demand to perform to the satisfaction of employers often puts the real purpose of our lives out of perspective - to the point at which a whole week can go by and we have not actively thought about the reaction of Jesus to our lives when He suddenly appears. Yet that moment is what every Christian has been made for. To live without a constant gaze to the horizon of eternity is foolish indeed, and so the Word encourages us to consider each day as the day when Jesus might return. How this thought would transform our behaviour and business!
Prayer: Dear Lord. Thank You that Jesus is going to come back to claim His 'Bride'. But please forgive me for having so often ignored that fact, and lived as though each day is mine to spend and not Your gift for me to use well. Help me to hold this world lightly and so set my affection on things above, instead of being mesmerised by the trivial and transient things around me. Yet, may I work hard today, working for Your glory and to gain Your approval. May I be ready and waiting on the day that Jesus returns and greet Him with great joy. In His Name. Amen.
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You can read the verses around this Bible passage from the Internet Bible: - in English, and many other languages
Middle Eastern weddings were quite an event with at least a week of feasting and much joy. Jesus uses this common event, with its eager excitement, to emphasise the importance of being ready for the bridegroom's return from the banquet with his bride. The analogy is filled out for us in the Epistles (Ephesians 5:25-33) in which the bridegroom is Jesus and the bride is His church.
The date for Christ's return is as unpredictable as the time of the end of the wedding feast. Only one thing matters: to be ready. Of course, those whose attention is easily diverted away from the purpose of the wedding may well miss the big occasion. In the same way, those who have little love for the Lord Jesus will not be anticipating His return. Such inattention would be unforgivable if a burglar had given advance warning of his arrival and then found himself free to ransack the house. In the same way, Jesus said that His disciples must be continually on the alert, not only anticipating Jesus' return but eagerly desiring it. Indeed, such people will spend their lives as a preparation for the moment when He comes. They will want to be ready and doing those things which would please their master.
Life in today's workplace is often busy and stressful. The priorities of the business and the continual demand to perform to the satisfaction of employers often puts the real purpose of our lives out of perspective - to the point at which a whole week can go by and we have not actively thought about the reaction of Jesus to our lives when He suddenly appears. Yet that moment is what every Christian has been made for. To live without a constant gaze to the horizon of eternity is foolish indeed, and so the Word encourages us to consider each day as the day when Jesus might return. How this thought would transform our behaviour and business!
Prayer: Dear Lord. Thank You that Jesus is going to come back to claim His 'Bride'. But please forgive me for having so often ignored that fact, and lived as though each day is mine to spend and not Your gift for me to use well. Help me to hold this world lightly and so set my affection on things above, instead of being mesmerised by the trivial and transient things around me. Yet, may I work hard today, working for Your glory and to gain Your approval. May I be ready and waiting on the day that Jesus returns and greet Him with great joy. In His Name. Amen.
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