Luke 12:35-36 (ESV) “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.
Now Jesus turns our attention to eternity, as He often does. In this story, Jesus is the master who has gone away and will be coming back. As Jesus has gone away to heaven, we are to be waiting for his return. As we wait, we are to people of action, keeping awake with our lamps burning. The burning lamps are a symbol of staying filled with the Holy Spirit. Part of seeking the kingdom is to live ready for Jesus to return at any moment. The opposite behavior would be falling asleep, letting our lamps go out and taking no action for the kingdom.
Luke 12:37-38 (ESV) Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants!
Those who are awake, waiting for Jesus, seeking His kingdom will be blessed when He returns. Jesus himself will serve them whenever he comes. The second watch is 9 to midnight and the third watch is midnight to 3am. This speaks of being awake and ready spiritually, even when others are sleeping.
Luke 12:39-40 (ESV) But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Finally, Jesus ends with a warning. The master of a house doesn’t know when the thief was coming, so his house was broken into. Jesus often says that He will be coming like a thief, He will come at an unexpected hour. So, we must be ready for his coming.
There are two possible ways that you and I will meet Jesus and need to be ready for. If Jesus comes back to this earth in our lifetime, we will meet him then. If Jesus does not come back in our lifetime, we will meet him when we pass on. Either way, we need to be ready and live in light of eternity.
Eternity has to do with God’s eternal kingdom. As you live for that kingdom in this life, you will have nothing to worry about. I don’t think that we think about eternity enough. Thinking about eternity both for ourselves and for others. When we think about eternity as a believer, it inspires us to live for God.
When we think about eternity for the unbelievers around us, it inspires us to reach them with the gospel. This life will be 70, 80 or 90 years for us, but eternity is forever. Living in light of eternity is the way of the wise. Living in light of eternity will eliminate worry from your life.
Jesus teaches us today that our priorities in life are of great importance. When our priorities are self-centered and focused on our needs, they lead to worry. But when our priorities are kingdom-centered, we can be people of faith. Faith views the future positively, trusting in God. Faith views a positive future both in this life and eternity. Faith seeks to impact the eternity of those around us with our witness. With the right priorities in our lives, we can eliminate worry and replace it with faith.