April 02 2025

Tuesday April 02

Beware of Carelessness

Luke 12:35-40

35 "Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; 36 and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. 38 And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 40 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."

In Luke 12, Jesus has been addressing the multitudes, the Pharisees and scribes, and His own disciples specifically, and giving them all warnings to “beware”, to be alert to the dangers and destructive nature of hypocrisy (vv. 1-12, of covetousness (vv. 12-21), and worry which leads to fear because of a lack of faith (vv. 22-34). Of course, all these warnings are for us today and we should take heed to each one of them. Now, in verse 35, to the end of the chapter, verse 53, Jesus is warning His disciples and everyone to “beware of carelessness”.

In these verses, Jesus shifted the emphasis from being worried about the present to being watchful about the future. It is interesting how all the themes in Luke 12 go together, for one of the best ways to conquer hypocrisy, covetousness, worry and fear is to look for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. When you are "living in the future tense," it is difficult for the things of the world to ensnare you. In this section, Jesus explained how we can be ready for His return by waiting and watching (vv. 35-40).

In the days of Christ, Jewish weddings were generally held at night and could go on late into the night and early morning hours. Remember in John 2 at the wedding that Jesus attended with His mother and His disciples that they ran out of wine. It must have been a long wedding! After the wedding the bridegroom's servants would have to wait for their master to come home with his bride. The new husband would certainly not want to be kept waiting at the door with his bride! But the servants had to be sure they were ready to go to work, with their robes tucked under their girdles so they were free to move.

That is why Jesus said in verses 35-36, "Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.” Peter later would write to the saints and say something very similar in 1 Peter 1:13-16, “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy."

But the remarkable thing that we should also notice in this story is that the master serves the servants! In Jewish weddings, the bride was treated like a queen and the groom like a king; so you would not expect the "king" to minister to his staff. Wow!!!!! Our King will minister to His faithful servants when He greets us at His return, and He will reward us for our faithfulness.

Jesus said the servants who were watching and waiting for their Master’s returned would be blessed (v. 37). To "watch" means to be alert, to be ready, not to be caught by surprise. That is the attitude we must have toward the second coming of Jesus Christ. His coming will be like that of a thief: unannounced and unexpected. Jesus Himself promised His disciples that He would return in John 14:3, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” As Jesus ascended into heaven from the Mount of Olives 40 days after His resurrection, His disciples were told by two angels in Acts 1:11, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven."

If we really believed that Jesus would return today, how would we be living? Prayerfully, if we are living with this “blessed hope” in our minds and hearts, we should purify ourselves and be ready! (1 John 3:2-3). Titus 2:11-14 also promises and encourages us with these words: “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”

Are you waiting and watching for Jesus return today? We can’t afford to be careless!!!!!

God bless!