Watch

2/28/2012

Luke 17:7- “Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘come along now and sit down to eat’?”

Interpretation: A servant serves until the work is finished. The master inviting the servant to eat before the work is completed is missing the point. As servants of the Lord, we are called to build the kingdom, and God doesn’t want us to stop working until there is nothing left to be done. There are Christians who go to church on Sunday’s and then live like death Monday through Saturday. There has even been a term coined “The sleeping Christian.” Someone who has salvation for themselves but doesn’t understand to go out and share the blessing is like a servant who is trying to eat before the master is finished. Mark 13 speaks on the return of the Son of Man to earth to gather the church into the Heavens. It proclaims that no one knows when that day or hour will happen except God, and compares it to the return of an owner to the house he asked you to watch. V. 36-37 says, “If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you I say to everyone, ‘Watch!’” When I was a baby my mother had to play the role of my servant, simply because I did not have the abilities to take care of myself. She would spend all day watching me and giving me what I needed, and would feed me and get me settled before she even thought about sitting down and enjoying a meal for herself. As Christians, we have to both plow over the enemy’s lies that have this world entangled, and look after other sheep who share Jesus as a shepherd. That doesn’t mean that we are done serving God there. Ecclesiastes 5:12 says, “The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much…” We are servants of the Lord, and we have been given a job to do. We will not be asked to sit down and eat nor shall we desire to do so until our work is accomplished and God’s will is fulfilled.

Application: There is an old friend who I have been putting off writing to. I’m seeing now that it’s really not my choice- it is a task given to me by my good master that I need to walk in. I will write it today and pray for my friend’s salvation.