July 20: Be ready

Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit. Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them. Whether he comes in the second watch, or even in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.    (Luke 12:35-40 — New American Standard Bible)

This parable about a master that has gone on a trip and the slaves he has left in charge of his house represents Jesus and each one of us. He is coming back again, and we don’t know exactly when He will come, but He tells us that we have to be ready. Jesus uses two pictures of readiness in this passage: being dressed and having our lamps lit. These two things would make it possible for the master’s servants to immediately take care of him when he arrived.

There is a blessing for those who watch for Jesus’ return, who make faithfulness and obedience a priority in their lives. On the day that Jesus returns they will be ready, and will be saved. God wants everyone to be saved, but the choice is not His. We have free will and each one of us must choose Him for ourselves. In a shocking reversal of the servant picture, Jesus declares that faithful servants will be asked to sit at the table and be served by Him on the day of His return! Their faithfulness and endurance will finally be rewarded.

This passage speaks of an unusually late hour of return for the master — the second watch or even the third watch. If the Jewish method of time keeping was used in this story, the hour would be sometime between 10pm and 6am. In other words, as human beings we are frequently tempted to think that God is late in answering our prayers or coming to our aid, but whenever He is “late” it is because He is building endurance or character in us. Constant readiness is necessary for our salvation, and throughout our life on earth.

Jesus changes the illustration slightly at the end of the passage, comparing our readiness to protecting a house against robbery. If we knew the time that a thief planned to break into our house we would be ready. But since no one knows when a thief will strike, we have to be ready all the time. This repeated message is no accident. God is not careless with His words. He repeats Himself because this is a message that we are liable to hear, agree with, and promptly forget, and so He makes a point of emphasizing this fact.

Make sure you’re ready.