A Very Timely Message, part 3

After Jesus said that no one knows when the Lord will return, He continues on and gives us an example to live by. 

Matthew 24:43-44 “But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.” If the owner of the house knew when a thief was coming, he would keep watch. But I think we’d do more than just watch. If we knew someone was going break into our house, we’d probably buy better locks for our doors. Maybe, we’d get a big dog. Some of us would probably buy a gun. We would prepare and then we wouldn’t sleep. If we knew the robber was coming at 10:00 pm, I doubt if we’d say, “I’ll just set my alarm for 9:50 and go to sleep until he gets here.” We’d probably stay awake the whole time, listening for anything that sounded suspicious. 
 

Jesus used this example as something everyone could relate to in an effort to teach us that this should be our position and mindset regarding spiritual things. If we knew the hour of His return, we’d probably be more diligent about reading His Word, more diligent about sharing our faith, and more diligent about our obedience to Him. We have been given these warnings in Scripture because God knows our human nature. He knows our tendency to wait until the last minute. And He also knows the surprise that will be on most people’s faces when He does return, as they say, “I’m not ready. I lived foolishly.”
 

Though we are not discussing it in this “very timely message,” in the next chapter of Matthew, chapter 25, we find the parable of the ten virgins, and how only five of them lived wisely and were ready when the Lord came back. Five lived foolishly and did not make it. 

A mentor/friend in ministry once told me:

“I remember as a kid in Junior High School, my buddy, Eddie, and I, we would walk to school every day. Times were tough back then in the 1960’s. We walked up hill both ways in three feet of snow every day. Eddie was a studier; I was not. I really didn’t apply myself to studying until after I got saved and was in Bible College. I can’t think of how many times the two of us would be walking to school on the day of a big test and I would be nervous about the test. I always noticed that Eddie was never in a panic. I’d say, “Aren’t you nervous about the test?” He usually said something like, “Well, my mom made me study last night, so I’m ready.” I’d respond with some dumb statement like: “I can’t believe that when they said yesterday that the test would be tomorrow, that they meant today!” “I need more time!” I wasn’t even a Christian and I was praying for God to put something in my mind that I had not put there.” 
 

Ephesians 5:15-16 “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” When the Apostle Paul says, “Be very careful how you live,” he uses the Greek word “akribos” which means; to be exact, or to be circumspect. He’s talking about how we are to go through life. Be very careful, be exact, and be circumspect, because that is how wise people live. The unwise person is not circumspect; they do not take into consideration which direction they are going. 

We get the word circumference from that word, which means to look all around, to take heed. Consider where you are headed. Consider the decisions you are making. Consider what might happen if you continue down the road you are currently on. The wise person uses time to their advantage; the foolish person does not. The wise person will pay a price to stay on the right path.

Continued tomorrow