Luke 12:35-40 - On being ready

12:35,36

God’s provision for us, His care for us, and His giving of the kingdom to us is absolutely no cause for complacency. Quite the contrary, we are to be dressed and ready for service. One day Jesus will return, and when He does we need to be ready. We are forever having theological debates which go nowhere. If I am forgiven does that mean I can do anything and be forgiven? If God is sovereign does it matter what I do? If I have to show faith does that mean God is still sovereign? And so on. The Bible has no problem with these matters. Instead we find that as soon as it talks about the sovereignty of God this is immediately followed by some demand upon us, some call to action. Here we have just been told about God’s amazing provision for us, then it is followed by instructions that we need to be actively serving God.

12:37-40

There are plenty of pointless and useless speculations on when Jesus will return. The Bible is quite clear that no one knows the day or the hour, it is also quite clear, as here, that the way we make ourselves ready for His return, whenever that might be, is to be serving God today. It really is very simple! The best way to prepare for tomorrow is to serve the Lord today. Then we get a quite amazing statement. Jesus says He will be pleased with us if He finds us actively serving, and that He will serve us! We really have no idea just how special and wonderful God’s attitude towards us is. This should also help us appreciate the significance of the foot washing that Jesus did in John 13. It is also further motivation and exhortation that we are to live lives serving others.

Then we get the clear statement that no one knows when He will return, and instead of wasting our time trying to solve an insoluble puzzle, we are to devote ourselves to doing His work. We are to be ready at all times.