Luke and the Lost
“When you least expect it, expect it!”, Randy would say to those of us who would play a prank on him or needle and tease him. You knew you were going to be paid back, you just didn’t know when. This was Randy’s favorite phrase. All our kids and now grandkids know it well. Apparently, Jesus wants us to be on our toes, at attention, and alert to how we live our lives and says something similar about waiting on his return. When you least expect it…expect HIM!
Luke 12, The Message
When the Master Shows Up
35-38 “Keep your shirts on; keep the lights on! Be like house servants waiting for their master to come back from his honeymoon, awake and ready to open the door when he arrives and knocks. Lucky the servants whom the master finds on watch! He’ll put on an apron, sit them at the table, and serve them a meal, sharing his wedding feast with them. It doesn’t matter what time of the night he arrives; they’re awake—and so blessed!
39-40 “You know that if the house owner had known what night the burglar was coming, he wouldn’t have stayed out late and left the place unlocked. So don’t you be slovenly and careless. Just when you don’t expect him, the Son of Man will show up.”
41 Peter said, “Master, are you telling this story just for us? Or is it for everybody?”
42-46 The Master said, “Let me ask you: Who is the dependable manager, full of common sense, that the master puts in charge of his staff to feed them well and on time? He is a blessed man if when the master shows up he’s doing his job. But if he says to himself, ‘The master is certainly taking his time,’ begins maltreating the servants and maids, throws parties for his friends, and gets drunk, the master will walk in when he least expects it, give him the thrashing of his life, and put him back in the kitchen peeling potatoes.
47-48 “The servant who knows what his master wants and ignores it, or insolently does whatever he pleases, will be thoroughly thrashed. But if he does a poor job through ignorance, he’ll get off with a slap on the hand. Great gifts mean great responsibilities; greater gifts, greater responsibilities!
This passage says a lot about our integrity and the condition of our hearts as we wait on our Bridegroom to return. Are we whining and complaining? Are we doing what is right even if no one (we think) is watching? Are we working hard at doing His best through us as if it were our last day on earth? These are all questions of reflection and meditation for today. How about you?
Dear Heavenly Father, Forgive us where we are slacking and whine about being too tired to finish the work. Be our strength and our resolve. Be our wisdom, insight and understanding and most of all, help us to know that You will complete the work You began in us years ago. For You are God and we are not. We look to You, being alert and ready, EXPECTING Your return. In Jesus Name, Amen. I believe.
Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus) 