Luke 12:32-40 (NRSV)
Read Luke 12:32-40 on biblegateway.com
Verse 32"Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Verse 33Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. Verse 34For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Verse 35"Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; Verse 36be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Verse 37Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. Verse 38If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. Verse 39"But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. Verse 40You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour."
Devotion
Flipping prematurely to the outcome of a novel seems irresistible sometimes, but I must face the swell of events with the characters in order to acknowledge the story as authentic and credible.
Jesus’ sayings in Luke 12 carry an underlying presumption that much of our lives will pass without a sure and conscious experience of God's near presence and guidance. We see only the snapshots of God's activity among us, mere moments in eternal time. So we face the swell and subsiding of our life events, trying to figure out how to live faithfully.
Jesus and Luke help us in these passages. Daily work matters; small deeds matter. Every word matters. None of it can be cast aside carelessly. Author Gail Godwin calls this "the grace of daily obligation." It is a gift to have things to do until Christ comes. And that is the promise - Christ will come.
Prayer
Lord God, we pray to live fully and hopefully. Amen.