Sunday, September 04, 2022

21 Days and Counting

Matt 24: 

36But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only37But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 40Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 41Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

42Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come43But 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. 44Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

45Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 46Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 47Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. 48But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; 49And shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; 50The 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, 51And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

Right here ^^ the Lord is clearly telling us both: 1. what to do and 2.  why we are to do it.  What does He tell us? You are not going to know when this surprise/secret/unexpected arrival is going to take place.  To put an explanation mark on it He tells us not even the angels or He knows when it is going to happen, only the Father knows.  Then He gives us a picture of what it is going to look like on the day this happens.  That day is a normal day.  Then He spends the next two paragraphs explaining to us why this needs to be an every day exercise of watching and waiting.  

What is the problem with watching and waiting every day?  From the doctrine point of view there is nothing wrong with it, it is air tight and bulletproof.  Then what is the problem?  The problem is human nature.  Watching and waiting every day is booooooorrring.  "Can't we do something else?"  Watching, waiting and readiness every day is a grind.  This is one of the reasons the Lord gave us a soldier analogy:

2 Tim 3:  

3Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ4No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. 5And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. 6The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits. 7Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.

Heb 12:1

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,

We are told what to do and warned what happens if we dont do it:

But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; 49And shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; 50The 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, 51And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

This is not rocket science, but it is work.  It is a grind just like a good soldier or a professional athlete would have to endure.  This means we have to be ready to go at a moments notice and ready to stay indefinitely while holding onto our discipline and perseverance.  As the Lord tells us runners do not run for nothing, they run for a prize.  We too are working for a prize here.  This is a winner takes all the marbles game so the stakes are very high.  This also explains why we hear so many telling not to bother watching every day because 1,2,3,4,5.  The enemy knows the deal as well and is doing everything he can to de-rail us.

So, we are to be watching and ready every day but in this particular season we should dial it up to 100.  This is no different than a soldiers life.  During every day life the soldier must be ready to go to war at any time but there are certain seasons like major exercises where that readiness and sharpened and perfected to a razor's edge.  In those limited times and seasons "normal" readiness is dialed up to 100.

Lets see what happens.  We dont have to predict anything, we just have to do what we were told to do.  The Lord already told us what was going to happen.  If that special season is upon us this fall of 2022, let us be found watching and ready to greet our Lord with a big hug and a greeting "Lord, we packed our bags lets do this!"

Glory to God

Grace and Peace