Today’s Readings: Mark 13:33-37, Luke 12:35-40, Psalm 100
Good Morning! I hope you have the day off for Memorial Day and you are able to devote some of your free time to prayer and study in God’s word. Often, when I write for Bible Journal I take a few hours during the week to study my assigned passages in depth before I start the process of writing to you. I like to read several Bible translations, various commentaries and research the author and historic context. Well friends, I didn’t do any of that today. The thing is, this week has been sort of a mess! A heavy blanket of worry and anxiety has settled over us that we can’t seem to shake. This afternoon, I sat down and just copied today’s parables from Mark and Luke onto a piece of notebook paper. I asked God to speak truth into my heart and to help me share that truth to you. The first words we hear in Mark 13:33 say:
“Be on guard! Be alert!” You do not know when the time will come.” Mark 13:33
Did you see that? Jesus said, “you do not know WHEN the time will come” he did not say, you do not know IF the time will come. That’s a promise that we can trust in Jesus to keep. How often do we spin our wheels trying to solve our problems or take control of a situation without asking Him first to work in our lives? In this passage, Jesus is urging his followers to look for a future event. Our culture invites us to indulge in immediate gratification and concentrate only on the present conditions. Instead, Jesus is calling us to stay alert and engaged in our faith. He’s encouraging us to be always at the ready for his return:
“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes” Luke 12:35-37
So what does it look like to be dressed for action as modern Christians? How can we remain awakened to the presence of Jesus Christ in our lives? I think it starts with a commitment to prayer and a willingness to be vulnerable with Him. I think it looks like serving Him and worshiping Him even in the midst of a storm. I think it looks like going to Him and believingthat He is the only true healer that can restore us. Worship is the glue that holds us together in the most difficult times. God is present in each situation and when we can awaken ourselves to His promise to restore us, we can let go of our own expectations. When we are stripped of all else, God offers us the power to endure through the Holy Spirit.
“Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” Mark 13:35-37
Lord, help us to stay awakened to your presence in our life. Help us to always be ready to invite you into our life and allow you to intercede. Lord, give us the patience and the wisdom to be faithful to you and await your return. -Amen