A Surprise Visit

A SURPRISE VISIT

Well as the old saying goes, "turnabout is fair play!" Last night my grandson, Tanner, who I surprised for his birthday, showed up on our doorstep at 9:00 PM and surprised us. We had no idea that they were coming!!!

Not that we were not prepared -- Granny always has the third floor guest room ready, and we always have plenty of grandkid "snacks" ready "just in case!"

As I thought about the surprise last night, I think that is exactly the way it will be when our Savior returns. We have no idea of the day or hour, but we are repeatedly told to be ready because He can come at any moment.

Anticipating His return affects the way we live in terms of our relationships, our service and in our obedience. The Master left with the warning that His return would be a surprise, but that we should be ready and waiting. But do I really love my life in light of the anticipation of His return?

Listen to the words from Scriptures -- they are quoted from The Message --are relate to the stewardship of my time in relation to the return of the Master:

Luke 12:35-48 "Keep your shirts on; keep the lights on! Be like house servants waiting for their master to come back from his honeymoon, awake and ready to open the door when he arrives and knocks. Lucky the servants whom the master finds on watch! He'll put on an apron, sit them at the table, and serve them a meal, sharing his wedding feast with them. It doesn't matter what time of the night he arrives; they're awake - and so blessed! "You know that if the house owner had known what night the burglar was coming, he wouldn't have stayed out late and left the place unlocked. So don't you be slovenly and careless. Just when you don't expect him, the Son of Man will show up."

Peter said, "Master, are you telling this story just for us? Or is it for everybody?" The Master said, "Let me ask you: Who is the dependable manager, full of common sense, that the master puts in charge of his staff to feed them well and on time? He is a blessed man if when the master shows up he's doing his job. But if he says to himself, 'The master is certainly taking his time,' begins maltreating the servants and maids, throws parties for his friends, and gets drunk, the master will walk in when he least expects it, give him the thrashing of his life, and put him back in the kitchen peeling potatoes. "The servant who knows what his master wants and ignores it, or insolently does whatever he pleases, will be thoroughly thrashed. But if he does a poor job through ignorance, he'll get off with a slap on the hand. Great gifts mean great responsibilities; greater gifts, greater responsibilities!"

John wrote in the book of 1 John -- "that everyone who has this hope (the hope of seeing Jesus ...) purifies himself!" (1 John 3:3 Are you eagerly expecting His return? Do you so live your life that your are prepared for Him to come at any moment? Sobering thought -- but one that we need to think about more often than we do. He is coming back! -- Bill Welte is President and CEO of America's KESWICK

God's WORD for YOU: Proverbs 27; Jeremiah 12-14; 2 Timothy 1

Think about this: Forgiveness is the only way to break the cycle of blame--and pain--in a relationship...It does not settle all questions of blame and justice and fairness...But it does allow relationships to start over. In that way,
said Solzhenitsyn, we differ from all animals. It is not our capacity to think that makes us different, but our capacity to repent, and to forgive.-- Philip Yancey