Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at , or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch. Mark 13, verses 33-37. There is a similar passage in Luke, Chapter 12, verses 42-47.
This passage helps me realize that I’m supposed to live the life God wants, all the time. I could have a more self-involved attitude where I wanted to be worldly now, focusing my time and attention on earning the most I could, attending all-night parties, living life in the fast lane, with heavy drinking and recreational drugs, thinking I could focus my attention on my faith later on in life.
I might not ever get a second chance to do that. I could be in an accident five minutes from now or the world could end. Who knows? Only God does and I may never get another chance to turn my life around.
Do you think the owner will continue to employ the servant who fell asleep while he was supposed to guard the owner’s home? I doubt it. Well, God wants us to live the life of a Christian all the time, not sometime later, when we feel like settling down a little more. That time may never come.
This is in no way meant to imply people who have lived their lives in the fast lane can’t go to heaven. The operative word is “lived.” This means the person has made a choice to change their life around because of their faith in Jesus and start living the life of a Christian. None of us knows when God is going to come for us, so we can’t put off these choices indefinitely and should be Watchful Servant Christians. We need to put a lot of prayerful thought into whether we think God would be pleased with the life we are leading?
Here are some related passages:
*Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. Matthew 24, verses 35-36.
*Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew, Chapter 24, verses 42-51.
*Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh. Matthew, Chapter 25, verse 13.
7/22/12 I have some new insights to add to this contrary to the comment that I originally posted:
The recent events in Aurora, Colorado have been on my mind in relation to these passages. I recently read in Romans 7 about what the Apostle Paul said in verses 20-25. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
If the Apostle Paul struggled with trying to live the life that God wants and found himself doing sinful things he wished he didn't do, we should draw hope from this. If Paul has salvation through Christ, because of his belief in the salvation provided by the death and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus, I would assume that those who live in the fast lane and have an active relationship with Jesus as their Savior also have salvation-not that I can determine who has salvation or not.
My point was that some people living in the fast lane may put off developing a relationship with Christ and may never get another chance. Does that mean that if we have a relationship with Christ and we smoke, party, do drugs, etc. we won't be saved? Fortunately, we have a very loving and forgiving God, but the previous passages make me prayerful about trying to ensure my lifestyle choices are aligned with God's will for me. Debbie Seiling
Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.
