Be Prepared

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

45-47 “Who here qualifies for the job of overseeing the kitchen? A person the Master can depend on to feed the workers on time each day. Someone the Master can drop in on unannounced and always find him doing his job. A God-blessed man or woman, I tell you. It won’t be long before the Master will put this person in charge of the whole operation.

48-51 “But if that person only looks out for himself, and the minute the Master is away does what he pleases—abusing the help and throwing drunken parties for his friends—the Master is going to show up when he least expects it, and it won’t be pretty. He’ll end up in the dump with the hypocrites, out in the cold shivering, teeth chattering.”

-Matthew 24:45-51 The Message

Verse 45: “Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household slaves, to give them their food at the proper time?

Verse 46: Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.

Verse 47: Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

Verses 45-47 studies: Jesus asks us to spend time taking care of his people and doing the work here on earth, inside the church and out. This is the best way to prepare for Christ’s coming.

Verse 48: But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’

Verse 49: and he begins to beat his fellow slaves, and he eats and drinks with those habitually drunk;

Verse 50: then the master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect, and at an hour that he does not know,

Verse 51: and he will cut him in two and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Verse 50 study: Because Christ’s return will be unexpected, this should motivate us to be prepared. Living irresponsibly is not what Christ asks of us. We don’t sit, wait, or do anything. We don’t seek self-serving pleasure; we don’t use tarry as an excuse not to do God’s work of building his kingdom. We don’t develop false security based on events calculations or let our curiosity about the end times change our thinking from doing God’s work.

Verse 51 study: “Weeping and gnashing of teeth” is a phrase used to describe despair. God’s certain judgment is as certain as Jesus’ return to earth.