WHEN LEAST EXPECTED

MATTHEW 24:42-44 NEW LIVING TRANSLATION

“So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.”

       Jesus is speaking here in the Gospel of Matthew regarding his return.  It will not be a drawn out affair, but rather swift and sudden.  Just as a bolt of lightning is there and then gone, so the Son of Man will return.  It shall be in an instant, in a blink of an eye ⁽¹⁾.  The Lord gives an illustration that anyone either from Bible times or from our time could understand.  If you knew someone was coming to rob your home you would prepare for it so that the thief’s efforts would be thwarted.  If you had no idea when the robbery would take place you would probably not believe it could happen to you and go about your way. According to www.howmanyarethere.net, there are 6,000 home break ins nationwide each DAY!  And people never think it’s going to be them.

       Jesus says something rather thought provoking.  He uses the phrase “when least expected”.  Since we cannot know when He will return, we can’t possibly make ourselves ready at the last second, because we don’t know when the last second is. Do you realize that means we could be anywhere during the course of our day when He returns for us?  It stands to reason that we should make ourselves ready and keep ourselves ready for the time Christ returns.  We do that by filling ourselves with His word and living it out each day.  We do that by imitating Jesus in our daily lives.  We do that by putting self aside in favor of others.

       James Joyce once wrote: “Time is, time was and time shall be no more.”⁽²⁾ We watch time religiously so as not to be late; however, time has no meaning to God the way it does to us. Scripture clearly tells us that to the Lord a thousand years are the same as a day and vice versa (2 Peter 3:8).  We go about planning anything and everything so our lives are time managed. That’s all well and good, but are we ready to meet the Lord in the clouds?  Some day time will have no meaning to us.  Do what you must do today, but make yourself ready as well.  Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Resource:  The Life Application Study Bible; published by Tyndale House.

⁽¹⁾ 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 “But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.”

⁽²⁾ James Joyce (1882–1941) was an Irish modernist avant-garde novelist and poet. The quote is taken from his book The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.