Numbers 8:1-9:23
Mark 13:14-37
Psalm 50:1-23
Proverbs 10:29-30
Mark 13:34 “The coming of the Son of Man can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. When he left home, he gave each of his slaves instructions about the work they were to do, and he told the gatekeeper to watch for his return. 35 You, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know when the master of the household will return—in the evening, at midnight, before dawn, or at daybreak. 36 Don’t let him find you sleeping when he arrives without warning. 37 I say to you what I say to everyone: Watch for him!”
I have had thoughts of Jesus return the prophecies of the second coming brought before me numerous times lately. The book I just read, sermons on the radio and in person, bible readings and bible studies, and conversations. I frequently pray come Lord Jesus but I must admit that prayer is usually a selfish desire to see Jesus or to put an end to the insanity I see in the world today. Here Jesus directs us to the importance of being faithful in going about the "work" that we are to do with the expectation that He could return right NOW.
It is so easy to not look at God's word and just live our lives according to what we think is best or what we like or don't like. We may decide to do what is right and stand up against evil like we are supposed to do but we are also to do the work that that He has given us.
Jesus our Lord and Master could return at any moment and if we are servants who are always thinking I can do whatever work we have been given later and just spiritually sleep through our time here we are going to be found wanting when He returns. But how do we know what work He has given us?
If we look at the bible as our employee handbook then we will have no problem figuring out what work we are to do. So, the first step is reading The Book. If you are here and have joined us in daily reading, then that is the first step in preparing for the Bosses return. But we also need to follow His instruction and even when we don't quite understand it we have help. We have others who are more mature than we are spiritually. So pastors, teachers and our spiritual elders are like the foreman or training officers of today. Receive their training and seek their advice and pray for discernment.
This also makes me think of the spiritual gifts lunch and learn we had on Sunday. Marcy had shared many scriptures about how God gives us all spiritual gifts to use for the good of the body. That is another way to determine what word we have been created for. She taught that when we function within the gifts that God has given us, we will enjoy the work we are doing. That would make it easier to keep doing it. We are less likely to put off our work and get lazy in our spiritual growth when we are growing in the direction God has created us to grow.
Keep watch and keep working with a heart surrendered to Jesus because He could come at any time.
Psalm 50:8 I have no complaint about your sacrifices
or the burnt offerings you constantly offer.
9 But I do not need the bulls from your barns
or the goats from your pens.
10 For all the animals of the forest are mine,
and I own the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird on the mountains,
and all the animals of the field are mine.
We can do all kids of work for God, and it won't be wrong, but a heart surrendered to Him is the sacrifice that He wants. We have been reading a lot about the sacrifices required in the Old Testament and I have heard multiple sermons on sacrifices as well. I have noted along recently that throughout the Old and New Testament we see that God is not looking for the act of sacrifice but a heart of sacrifice. Not the act of service but a heart willing to serve. Not the act of giving but a heart willing to give.
There is nothing that we can give up for God that is for Him. There is no work that we can do for Him that He can't do Himself. There is nothing we can give to Him that He needs. He created all things and they are all His so when we give them and our hearts are right it's not sacrifice it is returning to God what is His. Our lives should be the willing sacrifice we give. If you struggle with sacrificing your life...your things your time your money, your desires examine your heart.
Romans 12:1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
If you struggle with giving up your wants needs and desires for God's use, meditate on what it means to "give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you". Think about all that He has done for you. All that He has sacrificed for you so that you might be saved. Jesus did sacrifice much. First, He sacrificed His limitlessness to come to this earth and be born as a human baby. He was still divine, but He had to function in the limitations of a human body. He had to be nursed and cleaned and cared for. He had to be subject to His earthly parents. Even though He never gave into them He had to endure the temptations of the world. He sacrificed His body to be tortured and brutalized for sins that He never committed. He sacrificed His connection to the Father on His death as He took on the responsibility for all our sins that had separated us from the Father. All those things that He sacrificed were rightly His, but He gave them fully because of His heart of love for you. As you meditate on those thoughts if you think that you have never sacrificed your life to Him tell Him so. Then get out of the way and see what He can do.
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