April 8

Luke 12 Instructions for the Disciples 35-40

Reading this passage reminded me of a time when my brother and I still lived at home and my parents went away for a week. We were beyond teenage years but not quite ready to live on our own and we were very glad to have what we thought would be a week without our parents in the house. In our eyes we were keeping things together, until we got a call a few days earlier than expected with the five words we dreaded to hear, "we're on our way home". Looking around we realized we hadn't kept up with what we should have been doing and things weren't really in the order they were expected to be found in upon my parents arrival and we had some serious clean up to do before they got home.

In verse 40 of this passage, we are warned "You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you don't expect". Now, please don't get me wrong, I'm in not comparing my parents return home to the second coming of Jesus, but if you saw the mess you would understand my fear of not being prepared for their return. No one knows when Jesus is coming back, but we learn in this passage that in the wait, our focus should be on following the directions the Messiah left us. Love God, love people, make disciples. It was pretty humbling when I thought if Jesus showed up today, what would He find me doing? Is my spiritual house in order? How did I serve Him today? How far off am I from what I have been called to do? If we keep within our spiritual rhythms on the daily, then we have less of chance of drifting and being caught off guard. I pray that as we continue to be in quarantine we use this time to get on our knees and get our spiritual houses in order. "Blessed is that servant whose master finds him so doing when he comes" (v. 43)

Randi