I️ have loved being in the Word with you over the past couple of weeks for our Lent study! Who would’ve ever guessed we would be where we are today? Stuck in our homes. Scanning the news. Watching the time tick by slow. And yet, I️ know assuredly that God knew all along.
For, He knows everything (Ps. 139).
And tells us not to worry about anything (Matt 6:31).
As we prepare our hearts for Good Friday and Easter, I️ thought it fitting to wrap up our time together focusing on Mark 13:32-37…because Jesus is coming back for us someday and we must stay awake! He is going to prepare a place for us and promises to return to bring us along (John 14:3). The anticipation of hope should fill us with uncontainable joy!
The Day and Hour No One Knows
Only God knows the day of the Second Coming. The angels do not know. Even Jesus does not know (not due to an error in His omniscience, but rather because He voluntarily restricted his knowledge of this event out of submission to God, the Heavenly Father).
Be Ready, Watch!
Now, if all of God’s prophecies and promises have come true thus far (and I️ believe they have!)…then we can trust that God will continue to be faithful to His promise to return for us as well. Hence, we should adhere to His command to “Be ready, stay awake!”
- Of that day and hour no one knows (Mark 13:32).
- You do not know when the time is (Mark 13:33).
- You do not know when the master of the house is coming (Mark 13:35).
The truth is that we have no clue when Jesus will return, so we need to be awake and watch with eager anticipation. We need to be ready! If we are waking up each morning, grabbing our phones and looking at the coronavirus headlines like our lives depend on it…how much more should we be reaching for our Bibles and meditating on its truth! What if we read our Bibles and prayed with a sense of holy urgency?
Be Ready, Pray!
To be ready, we must stay in step with the Holy Spirit and be a people of prayer. Fervent prayer helps us remain focused, keeping life in proper perspective. We pray so that we don’t live in fear of the future, or regretful of the past. In contrast, prayer enables us to be used effectively in our right now because we know our hope lies firmly in eternity. As a result, we no longer fear death. Living free from fear enables us to be used mightily by God.
Stay Awake!
When you go on vacation, you take care of a few things. You put your mail on hold and ensure your pets have a place to stay. Before leaving, you make sure you’ve locked all the doors and set the alarm on. The alarm serves as your doorkeeper, sounding the alarm when you arrive home. Thankfully, the alarm is always ready…just in case, there is a change in your plans.
In the same way, we are to be on guard, watching for Jesus’ return. Our time should be filled with Kingdom work, in eager anticipation. In Scripture, “waiting for Jesus’ return” does not comply with complacency. Instead, it is a call to action…that we better get busy.
The apostles lived their lives with the assumption that Jesus would return during their lifetime. They busied themselves with spreading the Gospel. Can you imagine if instead they just sat and twiddled their thumbs? Thank goodness, they took the Gospel into all the world (Mark 16:15) and lived each day as if it were their last.
Every day is a gift of God…what would change if you believed this truth?
Prayer: Dear Jesus, Thank you for your tremendous love for us. Prepare our hearts for Good Friday and Easter. Root in us firmly that You are worth living for, and then give us the boldness to go share it! Amen.