READING: Mark 13:1-23, Matthew 24:1-25, Luke 21:5-24, Mark 13:24-31, Matthew 24:26-35, Luke 21:25-38
None of us knows when Jesus will return. No matter how many “Second Coming” charts and timelines we might buy or produce that outline the future, all we know is that Jesus could return at any moment. His return could be unexpected like a thief who comes in the night, but we do know He will come again at some point. As one writer put it, we know both the “absolute certainty that the day will come, and the absolute uncertainty when it will come.”*
Our responsibility is simply to be found watching with expectancy when He comes: “Therefore be alert, since you don’t know what day your Lord is coming” (Matt 24:42). Moreover, the Lord wants to find us working—”Blessed is that servant whom the master finds doing his job when he comes” (Matt 24:46)—and praying “that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36).
The preparation is clear. Watch . . . Work . . . Pray. It’s really that basic.
How, though, do we do that? The answer is simple: we are to watch, work, and pray continually, with our eyes ever on the sky for Jesus’ return and our feet ever on the ground doing ministry in the meantime. How we live today, tomorrow, and each day God gives us will determine whether we are ready when Jesus does indeed return; our present-tense faithfulness prepares us for Jesus’ future-tense return.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: Watching, working, and praying—which of the three is the most difficult for you to do?
DAILY PRAYER: “Father, we know Your Son is coming again. Help us to be ready.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Mark 13:32-37, Matthew 24:36-51, Matthew 25:1-46
