Summer baseball. Fresh cut grass. Picnics with colorful paper products. The warm sun feels good. The economy is stable, at least for the moment. It should set me at ease, but I awoke with the words of Jesus ringing in my ear: Luke 12:40 Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not. Four words keep playing over in my mind like a skipping record: “when ye think not.” Jesus told His disciples, Matt. 26:41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” When things seem comfortable that is the time of sudden destruction.
When you think not – that is the time it’s going to happen. When our plans are finalized and our spiritual intensity calls for a little R-n-R – that’s when the enemy creeps in and takes root in our lives.
Jesus made that proclamation because He knew that the nature of man is to think that He is not returning. Our actions say, “He’s not coming back now. I don’t think that it will happen at this moment” or “There’s too much of life left.” That’s why the disciples were sleeping in the garden while Jesus was preparing to face His death and the one who would betray Him. They thought, “it won’t happen, we have plenty of time.” Jesus prayed, sweating as it were great drops of blood while Peter, James, and John rested. Their passion was on hiatus. Their attention diverted.. “when ye think not.”
The Lord’s words ought to make us more aware than ever before. We should be looking and watching. If we fail now we will be like those unwise virgins who spent their lives preparing for the marriage, but in the end were not ready for the bridegroom. They were empty of the necessary oil. I’m looking. I’m watching. When He returns, I want to be about my Father’s business.
Pastor Jeffrey Harpole