Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
Luke 12:35-40 (NABRE)
A pleasant surprise this must have been for the servants. People are usually not in a bad mood after celebrating a wedding.
In a similar way, the Second Coming of Jesus can be a welcomed surprise for us. Sometimes, we might feel a certain anxiety with preparing for His return. We might pressure ourselves into living a fraught, perfectionist existence. The journey of faith then becomes overly burdensome, full of “what-ifs” rather than certainty of and confidence in our God who gives, without measure, grace and peace to us.
Yet we have Jesus Christ, who will come back to us and take us to Himself, so that where He is we also may be (John 14:3). We sometimes forget that Jesus actually wants us to be joyfully ready at His return. He comes to us. He brings us to Himself. Notice: God makes the first move, and we freely respond.
God has such a deep, deep desire for us to join Him in Heaven. The strongest attraction and desire of love you may experience toward someone, the most flaming yearning you might have is so, so small compared to what God desires for you. Give God a chance. Work with Him so that you might be ready. Remember: the master of the house rewards his watchful servants with His joyful companionship. God desires the same for us.
To live the Christian life is not a solo endeavor. You have so much help and encouragement from our omnipotent and all-loving Father in Heaven.
Thank you for reading. Peace.
Eat the Scroll 