“Therefore, be on the alert, for YOU DO NOT KNOW which day your Lord is coming” (Matt. 24:42).
We must be constantly on the alert. Keep our eyes open. Keep wide awake! Be watchful or be vigilant means to live a sanctified life, CONSCIOUSLY AWARE OF THE COMING JUDGMENT DAY. The just shall live by faith in Jesus Christ. The true believer is looking forward to the coming of our Bridegroom and King.
“But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert…For this reason, YOU ALSO MUST BE READY; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour WHEN YOU DO NOT THINK HE WILL“ (Matt. 24:43-44).
The figure of the thief is chosen to illustrate the one point of the unexpected stealthy approach. The coming of Christ WILL CATCH MEN SUNK IN SPIRITUAL SLUMBER. But there is also the reward of watchfulness. The faithful servant will steadfastly continue to fulfill his call of God to faithful service.
We do not know on what day our Lord is coming. He compares Himself to a thief in the night. “For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly…and they will not escape. But you, brethren, ARE NOT IN DARKNESS, that the day would overtake you like a thief” (1 Thess. 5:2-4).
Jesus told the church in Sardis: “So remember what you have received and heard; and KEEP IT, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you” (Rev. 3:3).
Later Jesus told John on the island of Patmos: “Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame” (Rev. 16:15).
The emphasis of the whole passage in Matthew is WE MUST BE READY for Jesus’ coming, because He will come when you do not expect Him. No one knows at what time or during what watch the thief will come. Therefore, KEEP ON WATCHING. BE READY. No one can predict when He will come.
Jesus admonishes us, “Be ready.” “Be on the alert.” You do not know when the thief will come, but HE IS COMING!
ARE WE PREPARED IN MIND AND HEART?
ARE WE READY FOR HIS COMING?
Let’s be ready… Bill Stockham