Matthew 24:42-51

The gospel tells us today: “Watch, for you do not know when your Lord is coming…” “You must always be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

Christ exhorts us to wake up to the urgent call of renewal. He urges us to be constantly watchful. At the same time, he offers us the greatest treasure possible – His kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy. It’s possible to lose this great treasure if we do not keep vigilant watch. We ask: What do we watch for? The Lord and the coming of His kingdom for certain. In the Lord’s prayer, we pray daily, “May your kingdom come and you will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The Lord is at work to renew his people and to equip us for spiritual battle and for the spread of the gospel. Are you ready for his action of grace in your life? We also watch for the enemy who seeks to rob us of our treasure. If Satan can’t induce us to give up on our faith in God and on our hope in heaven, he tries to make us spiritually dull and indifferent to the word of God and he tempts us to procrastinate. His strategy is to tell Christians that there is no hurry.

There is an ancient story about three devils who were arguing over the best way to destroy the souls of people in the world. The first demon says: “Let’s tell all the Christians that the bible is a fable.” “No, that will not do,” the second demon said. “Let me go and tell them that there is no heaven nor hell.” The third demon says, “there is one better way. Tell the Christians that there is a God, that the bible is true, that there is heaven and hell. Yes, but I’ll tell them there is no hurry, there is always a tomorrow.”

The devils agreed and they sent him. Such is Satan’s strategy: there is no hurry; there is always a tomorrow.

Why wait until New Year or some sickness to strike before we start getting rid of some bad habits. “Stay awake”, says the Lord, “because you do not know when your master is coming.”

Seize the opportunity. Now is the time to welcome Christ into our lives by doing good to others as a preparation for his coming. Now is the time to become more Christ-like by making ourselves more loving, more caring persons.