Daily Bread

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

When we read passages like this — as Christians who have spent a long time listening to talks and sermons — it is easy for us to project our own presuppositions on the text and assume that Jesus is talking about a 'second coming' that will take place one day in the future. Yet, found right at the end of Matthew's gospel, just before his crucifixion, what if the unexpected hour was just about to happen? What if Jesus was talking about what would happen imminently?

For us, Jesus is in the process of 'coming' because we can meet Jesus in the here and now! In very real terms, now is our unexpected hour and we are encouraged to stay awake and be alert, ready to meet God in the present.

The point is that we must be ready! The kingdom of heaven is here and we are invited to enter into it. The Holy Spirit of Jesus is ready to fill us, to transform us from the inside out, and to equip us to bring God's message of love to the world. This message from Jesus is a reminder to not to be asleep to what God can do in the here and now.

There is a sense of urgency about this plea offered by Jesus, and if we look at the world around us, we can see why. There is so much pain, hurt, and brokenness that needs healing. There are so many relationships that need restoring. There is so much abuse of the environment that needs reversing.

We are God's ambassadors to this world and you are an agent of God's love. Today, are you ready to partner with God?

Holy God
May I be ever alert
to your presence,
and ready to partner
with you as you
seek to bless the world.
May my thoughts
be your thoughts,
my words be your words,
and my actions
be your actions.
This day and forever.