Luke 12:35-40

"Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." 

Perhaps the greatest sacrifice we make on a daily basis is our time. Whether you are graced with resources, gifts or talents, time supersedes them all because it is something that every human has in their possession. You can waste your time or use it wisely. The choice is yours. Similarly though, we all have the choice of what we do with our time and how we spend it. In our present culture of increased productivity and efficiencies, time is a precious commodity and supremely valued. Therefore, we are typically protective of our time and (let's be honest) reluctant to share it if it is not self-serving. What is of greatest importance to God though is how we spend the time that we have been given. We need not worry about time because time is merely a man-made measurement. Scripture teaches, "For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night" (Psalm 90:4). That is why for the believer who puts his/her faith in Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour, the time between life and death is measured by the blink of an eye, for a day on earth is but a thousand years in heaven. Taking this into consideration, it is safe to assume that when Jesus declared, "And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? (Matthew 6:27), He was highlighting the Old Testament teaching of Psalm 90:4 that time is measured very differently between heaven and earth. Upon reading Luke 12:35-40, it is easy to gloss over the admonitions that Jesus is making concerning our use of time here on earth. For if God sees a day on earth as equivalent to a thousand years in heaven, it is fairly easy to presume that we do not have all the time in the world to live according to our own set of rules. Jesus highlighted this point in the parable of the rich fool when he taught that living without a concept of God's sovereign will and timing results in eternal judgement. "But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God" (Luke 12:20-21). It is interesting to note that upon initial review Luke 12:35-40 appears to point toward end-times and the second-coming of Jesus Christ, which is unarguably true. But what if Christ intended a much deeper meaning and application? How would that affect our application of the Gospel? More precisely, how would it impact our use of the time we have been given, not as a whole, but every day to live in obedience to Christ and apply His Holy Word throughout our lives? What if our call to action is not limited to simply receiving salvation at one single moment in our lives but preaching the Gospel to ourselves each day as we apply God's Word? Perhaps in that context, our understanding of obedience is opened like a flower blossoming. Scripture comes alive and the call to "stay dressed for action" is illuminated in passages like Hebrews 13:2 which states, "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." Let us not be quick to place constraints on Christ's teaching, but rather filter the applicable pages of Scripture through the colander of Luke 35-40. I believe J.C. Ryle beautifully summarizes this point in his exposition of the Gospels: "The lesson is one which is greatly needed in the churches of Christ. We hear a great deal about people's intentions, and hopes, and wishes, and feelings, and professions. It would be well if we could hear more about people's practice. It is not the servant who is found wishing and professing, but the servant who is found 'doing' whom Jesus calls 'blessed'...The lesson before us is not about justification, but about sanctification, not about faith, but about holiness. The point is not what a man should do to be saved, but what ought a saved man to do?" Preparation is essential to Christian living. If you are not prepared on how to handle and respond to trials and temptations that undoubtedly come your way, how would you ever feel equipped to stand firm in righteousness? The apostle Paul expounded upon this idea as such: "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified" (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). If an athlete or a soldier is not properly trained, he or she is not prepared for action and subject to injury or even death. Why then do we believe we can stray from following God's teachings and not succumb to the same painful fate? Are we not fooling ourselves by thinking we are awake and standing watch while in actuality we are sleep-walking through our obedience and submission to Scripture? If we are to be adequately prepared for action by "girding our loins" (KJV), so as to not trip over our robes of self-righteousness that frequently hinder our journey of faith, we must again value time in God's economy as supreme over our own. Psalm 84 states, "For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness." This must be the perspective with which we approach the throne of grace as we humbly offer our time and efforts as a tithe-offering unto the Lord. For in tithing our time unto God, we are offering the first-fruits of our labor that are pleasing in His sight. He will not reject a sacrifice bathed in humility and submission. Paul wrote to the church in Rome a similar proclamation: "Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light" (Romans 13:11-12). Paul understood that one of the greatest obstacles to the Christian church was an attitude of complacency and apathy toward Scripture which is as prophetic today as it was almost 2000 years ago. We must not deceive ourselves into thinking we can create our own religion and worship a version of Jesus that is un-Biblical. Make no mistake, from cover to cover the Bible reveals both aspects of God's character, His wrath and His love, which are not independent of one another but co-dependant. They are in perfect harmony and unison as they declare His glory and majesty, manifested in the cross of Calvary. One simply cannot exist without the other, for Christ's death on the cross is meaningless without both. Or as J.C. Ryle eloquently states, "The same loving Saviour who holds out mercy to the uttermost to the penitent and believing, never shrinks from holding up the judgments of God against those who despise His counsel." For all the warnings found in this passage, there is the promise of blessing for the one who has properly prepared for his master's return. It is virtually unfathomable though that after sacrificing Himself upon the cross for the sins of man, Jesus would not only save us by grace through faith in Him, but would bestow to us the blessing of serving us Himself at the banquet feast of heaven. I can barely comprehend why Christ would die for my sins let alone grasp the overflow of blessing He promises to His faithful prepared servants! How could anyone fathom that there is greater blessing than the opportunity to worship Jesus in heaven for even one day? In reality though, I find that my heart and mind take for granted the promise of salvation for those who put their trust in Christ. The conviction within my heart speaks to me for the essence of sin is spurning the provision of God as adequate, and I cringe at the thought of how often I have made that choice rather than investing my time wisely by walking in fellowship with God through His Word and accessing His power to defeat sin through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ through the manifestation of Himself alive in my heart through the Holy Spirit. As Jesus warns, we must remember to "be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). The call to "stay dressed for action" is most certainly magnified due to spiritual warfare. Therefore we must live our lives in such humble obedience and submission to Scripture so as to not "give opportunity to the devil" (Ephesians 4:27). For whether we care to admit it or not, when we who are exposed to the truth of Scripture reject its teaching and choose sin over righteousness, we are paying homage to Satan and spurning fellowship with God for love of self. When I think about all the times I have chosen to sin and consequently to suffer, I am shaken to the core of who I am choosing to serve especially after reading John 8:44 where Jesus emphatically proclaims, "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies." The choice is simple. There is no sugarcoating this message from Christ. But where the rubber meets the road for us all is whether we will make the effort regardless of the cost to prepare accordingly for the return of Jesus Christ by not sitting idle, but actively living out the Gospel as painful and uncomfortable as it may be. Jesus said point-blank, "You will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved" (Matthew 10:22). But as J.C. Ryle stated, it is not about justification but sanctification and what a saved person ought to do. For by applying this perspective to Luke 12:35-40, we "lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal" (Matthew 6:20). Ryle sums it up best: "What are we doing ourselves with our religious knowledge? Are we using it wisely, and turning it to good account? Or are we content with the barren saying, 'We know it, we know it,' and secretly flattering ourselves that the knowledge of our Lord's will makes us better than others, while that will is not done? Let us beware of mistakes. The day will come, when knowledge unimproved will be found the most perilous of possessions. Thousands will awake to find that they are in a lower place that the most ignorant and idolatrous heathen. Their knowledge not used, and their light not followed, will add to their condemnation."