Category: Devotions

The final story in our preparation for the return of Jesus is quite a long one, known as the Parable of the Talents.

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. ‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (Matthew 25 v 14-30)

So here is my morning thought:

What we do and what we believe and being in good standing with God are all connected.

In bold, “each according to his ability” is the key here. What do you have? What can you do? What are you able to do (through life our responsibilities change)?

Then do it.

When Jesus returns what do you want to be doing with what has been given to you as the responsibility of your life? Yes that changes. What you were given perhaps 30 years ago is different to what it may be today. However, it is your attitude towards that responsibility. If you say it doesn’t matter what I do with my life or I am not going to be responsible for my words, ways and how I treat others, then it will not end well.

What we do and what we believe and being in good standing with God are all connected.

On the outside everyone can look the same but it is what’s inside that counts.

“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps.The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’“‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.“Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. (Matthew 25 v 1-13)

They were all virgins and they all had lamps and they all had one bridegroom. Everyone looked the same. But of course there was a fundamental difference. There comes a time when everything changes. What you need in the night-time is different to the day. In the day you couldn’t spot any difference. They all look prepared, ready and excited.

But why have a lamp with nothing in it? Why deceive people to think carrying a lamp means when it becomes dark you will be fine? How foolish is this? Some people don’t even have a lamp! A person can look prepared and yet nothing is further from the truth.

A person can know the Christian language, ‘Lord, Lord’ but words are just words. Does He know you? Do you give time to be known? Do you tell Him everything? Are you having an affair with Him or is this a deep relationship of commitment? It is what we do now that counts.

Jesus will return unexpectedly at a time when His servants are treating people well; they are faithful to Him and each other; they are wise in their area of influence that they have been given.

 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.”

Jesus will return unexpectedly at a time when His servants are doing the opposite!

“But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 24 v 45-51)

This servant will be tempted to think the master is not coming because the delay is long, he will think he is free to treat the other servants not as belonging to the master but just as people and people he can abuse.

This servant will begin to act like someone who does not belong to the master. He will begin to act as if he was the master.

He will be surprised when the master returns and if he has fallen into the temptation of being ruthless, vile, abuser of people then he will be dealt with heavily. He will be known as a hypocrite and dealt with as such.

Consider your ways. Love people. Take care of them. Show that you are ready and waiting.

As we wait for Jesus to return we must a) be expectant (v37-39); b) live confidently knowing He is coming for us (v40-41); and now c) be prepared (v42-44).

“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 v 42-44)

If you knew a thief was coming but you didn’t know when what would you do? Would you cancel your life and spend the entirety not moving out of the house, not properly sleeping, afraid to leave your possessions lest the thief comes when you are away? Is that the life you would choose to live?

Or would you secure your house in readiness that the thief could come anytime? You would secure it by telling the household and even the neighbours of the thief so that you could enlist their help. You would speak often of the thief so that no one becomes complacent in waiting for him to come.

Keep watch … kept watch … be ready. How do we do this? Jesus tells 3 parables to explain how we must be prepared:

Servants (v45-51) = Being accountable for how you treat others.

10 virgins (25 v 1-13) = Knowing Jesus.

The Talents (25 v 14-30) = Personal responsibility for the way we live our lives.

So being ready is not just sitting on top of the roof of your house with your eyes wide open waiting for the thief. It is to live your life in preparation by demonstrating you are ready by how we do life.

“Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.” (Matthew 24 v 40-41)

I can’t read these 2 verses without singing what has to be the most famous Larry Norman song: Two men walking up a hill/One disappears and one’s left standing still/I wish we’d all been ready.

And if you don’t know that song then you are obviously too young or had your head in the sand for far too long!

As I meditate this morning on these 2 simple verses, what I have been focusing on with God is not the rapture images that Larry Norman helps us with but rather the field and the hand mill.

Today whatever your hand finds to do; if you are in the field working or grinding with the hand mill; if you are visiting people, going to the shops; work, leisure, whatever it is, get on with life. Don’t slacken off because you are looking to the sky waiting for Jesus to return. Get on with life. Do your best. Work this life that you have. Make the most of it. Doing life confidently in this amazing truth: He is coming for us!

As a follower of Jesus Christ at a time when you are getting on with life He will come for you. In the context of Noah, you will not be left for the judgment of the flood but you will be lifted into the ark of salvation for eternity. So have a great day today!

When mothers are expectant it shows. They eat differently, look differently and walk differently! Expectation is hard to hide. Ask a child on the eve of Christmas Day!

“As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.” (Matthew 24 v 37-39)

People and Noah.  The point is not that the people were sinning and Noah wasn’t. But that the people were living with no expectancy for the flood even when they saw the ark being built. Had they been warned? Yes. But they chose to ignore those warnings and live their lives to the full, unconcerned about what would take place.

But Noah was different. His family were expectant. He also didn’t know when but he knew what.

Knowing Jesus is returning should be enough to live our lives with expectation. If like Noah we choose to do this then it will show in how we do life.

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son but only the Father.” (Matthew 24 v 36)

No one knows.

Not the day, hour, the month or the year or even generally knowing it’s in the next few years. No one knows.

If the Son of God in taking on human form restricted himself from knowing then how much more should we be content in that for ourselves?

The message from God seems to be:

I want you to live not knowing when exactly Christ will return but live as if He is near.

But how do we do that? Jesus continues and will guide us in this in the next few verses.

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (Matthew 24 v 35)

Our world as we know it may shake to its foundation. Everything can disappear in a heartbeat. Even Heaven and Earth as we understand it now will come to an end eventually as the new Heaven and Earth come into being.

But one thing remains: the Words of Christ, the Word of God, it is the firm foundation, immovable, unchangeable, nothing will stop the gospel, it will keep on emerging and it will be there in the end.

So how do those in persecution today become encouraged by this? Or how does the Church in the West with the rise of restricting legislation and secularisation survive without giving up?

It is by knowing that the gospel can never be stopped. Not at any time in the present nor in the future. It is eternal.

“Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.” (Matthew 24 v 34)

This seems to have caused confusion ever since it was written down.

Is it the generation who experience the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70? Is it the Jewish people alive at the return of Christ? Is it the type of wicked people who will also oppose God’s people when Christ returns?

What is true is this: there will be a last generation, they will see all these terrible things and then they will see Jesus.

But this is the key principle for every follower of Christ regardless of whether they are the last generation or not.

• Suffering will not last forever, the Son is coming.

Whatever you are facing and going through today. No matter your circumstance:

• At the end of this is Jesus.

Have you been into the garden recently?

“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.” (Matthew 24 v 32-33)

Taking a parable from nature Jesus teaches us all a lesson:

Are we carefully staying alert for His coming?

That is the important question rising from this question: When has summer come? You know summer is near by looking at nature and you know the end and His coming is near by looking at the increase of wickedness and the expansion of the worldwide gospel that Jesus has previously spoken about.

Maybe we need to step outside from our lives full of earthly difficulties and the now moments and go into the garden of a bigger world and look at a fig tree?