Keep Awake!
Mark 13:33-36: "Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. 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. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake."
When a master left his home entrusted to his servants, he expected to come home and find the house in order, work faithfully done, and that there would be fruit from their labor. It was not a time for the servants to become lazy and slack off; instead, they were to work diligently knowing that their master could arrive at any time. There was a sense of perpetual readiness to welcome their master, to make him proud of all that they had done in his absence.
As Christians, our Master has left and entrusted this world and especially the church for us to nurture, build, and strengthen in his absence. The Lord has entrusted us with all the gifts and empowerment needed to do this work. Now, we must embrace the call and the responsibility and choose to work diligently during his absence. Like those servants, we have no idea when our Master will return. The key question for us is not when he will return but how we are to make ourselves ready for his return.
While his delay feels long, he will come. As Jesus said just a couple of verses prior to these, no one knows the hour or the day (v. 32). So, what do we do? We pray, we work, we witness, we build the church, we believe, and we live like he will be here tomorrow.
This Advent season, may we heed the call to stay awake. If we have fallen asleep, may we arise and get to work. The king is coming, and may he find us faithfully working while we wait.
Reflection:
What do you need to do today to prepare yourself for the coming of the Lord? What does it look like for you to faithfully work while you wait?
When a master left his home entrusted to his servants, he expected to come home and find the house in order, work faithfully done, and that there would be fruit from their labor. It was not a time for the servants to become lazy and slack off; instead, they were to work diligently knowing that their master could arrive at any time. There was a sense of perpetual readiness to welcome their master, to make him proud of all that they had done in his absence.
As Christians, our Master has left and entrusted this world and especially the church for us to nurture, build, and strengthen in his absence. The Lord has entrusted us with all the gifts and empowerment needed to do this work. Now, we must embrace the call and the responsibility and choose to work diligently during his absence. Like those servants, we have no idea when our Master will return. The key question for us is not when he will return but how we are to make ourselves ready for his return.
While his delay feels long, he will come. As Jesus said just a couple of verses prior to these, no one knows the hour or the day (v. 32). So, what do we do? We pray, we work, we witness, we build the church, we believe, and we live like he will be here tomorrow.
This Advent season, may we heed the call to stay awake. If we have fallen asleep, may we arise and get to work. The king is coming, and may he find us faithfully working while we wait.
Reflection:
What do you need to do today to prepare yourself for the coming of the Lord? What does it look like for you to faithfully work while you wait?
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