Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.

But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him. Matthew 24:42-44 The older I get the more I am becoming thankful for the disciplines that the Lord has built into my life. These are the lifelines that I find myself clinging to, especially when my life begins to get hard. I was reminded of this during my devotional readings this morning. Every day I follow the McCheyne Bible Reading plan which takes you through the whole Bible once a year, and the book of Psalms and entire New Testament twice during the year. It can be found on the devotional page on the First Baptist Brampton website, www.firstbaptistbrampton.org. I mention this today because there are mornings like today when I wake up and the devotional reading is something that I just dont feel like doing. Because it is a discipline, built into my life however I find myself opening the Bible and beginning to read. It doesnt take very long before I find myself rejoicing in the fact that I followed through because I find myself discovering something that enriches my life as a follower of Christ. This morning one of the readings was in Matthew 24. This is Matthews version of the Olivet Discourse. Here Jesus answers questions from His disciples about the destruction of the Temple and the coming of the Lord at the end of the age. The answer that Jesus gives is complex, but its main point is centred upon our need to be watching and praying as we await His coming. The text I have quoted above tells us that the timing of His coming is uncertain as only the Father knows when it will be. The Lord will come at an unexpected time. Therefore we must be in a constant state of readiness as we look for His coming. How often have we gotten ourselves in trouble on this very point? We, or others, are thrown into confusion thinking that we have discerned the exact timing of His coming. In our excitement we turn away from the very things that we should be doing in preparation. The Lord calls us away from our preoccupation with the timing of His coming so that we can engage in those tasks which are crucial to our readiness. The question is what does it mean for us to be ready? Jesus tells His disciples that there is one certain truth that they must deal with. This is that they do not know on what day their Lord is coming. The truth that is central here is the uncertainty of the timing of His coming. If you do not know the when of His coming then you must always be in a state of readiness. Keep watch, Jesus says. Be alert, or be in a constant state of preparedness. What does this mean for the believer? Jesus illustrates His point by telling the disciples about a servant put in charge of his Masters house. When the Masters return is delayed the servant continues to follow through on his responsibilities keeping the house prepared for the day on which the Master does come home. This servant is blessed because his Master finds him at work when He returns. Nothing is more important than this. As he reflects upon this point William Hendrickson points us to 1 Thessalonians 5:6ff, So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be

self controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake of asleep, we may live together with Him. There is a play on words here. Being awake, or alert, is a state of being spiritually aware, in the early part of the passage. In the last part of the text to be awake or asleep is to be alive or dead. What Paul is pointing to here is the person who lives in a state of spiritual slumber. They live as if there is no spiritual reality beyond those things they experience with their senses. As Hendrickson puts it, They live as if there will never be a judgment day. To be alert is to live constantly with the awareness of Gods impending judgment. Constantly this person lives as if they will be giving account to their Lord regarding every part of their life. Therefore they live with a constant, prayerful submission to the will of their Master. It was this that struck me so forcefully creating such joy in me this morning. Jesus uses the phrase your Lord in our text. He is my Lord! Do I live with a constant awareness that I am to be living in the will of My Lord? So often I begin to think that my life is really my own. I am the one in control of my life. I will do with it what I want. Then Gods Word comes along and reminds me that I belong to that one who has redeemed me with His precious blood. I am His servant. I am to be constantly alert to His command. What is true for me is also true for each of us. We are either alertly serving Him or we are slumbering away our lives as we draw ever closer to the day of judgement. Whether we are awake or asleep the Day of Judgment will come for each of us. Then the only question that will have any importance will be, Were you redeemed by Him?