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33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 35 “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” ~ Luke 12:33-40
Our adventure with God is dependent upon our perceived need of Him and our awareness of His daily work in our lives. Often we miss the adventure because we are afraid to go to where He leads.
In v.33 we read, "Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys." The Lord Jesus is modulating the attention of the disciple to be focused on Him. When we give our hearts to the things of this world, our ability to see Him with our hearts is diminished.
This is an invitation to kingdom living, but it only appeals to the desperate and the broken. Giving up everything enables us to be singularly focused on Him. And, when we find Him, we discover this life that no moth will destroy.
In v.34 we read, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." The Greek word used here for "heart" is kardia which means feeling, thought, desire, will, the core of life. To the degree that we want the Lord will determine how much we recognize His work in our lives. This is not about praying a prayer, it's about abandoning everything, so that we see Him. We are to be sensitized to His daily presence in our lives and in the lives of those around us. It is really about where our heart is. If our heart is captured by the world, we will miss Him.
In v.35-36 we read, "Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him."
The Lord Jesus shifts the emphasis from being worried about the present to being watchful about the future. One of the best ways to conquer hypocrisy, greed, and worry is to look for the Lord’s return. When we are living this way, it is difficult for the things of the world to ensnare us.
The oil in the lamps was essential to keep the servants lamps burning. In the Scriptures, oil is illustrative of the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus is saying, "Walk in the Spirit, daily, and you'll be ready for your Master's return."
Walking in the Spirit means to have a mind set on the Spirit's desire to glorify the Lord Jesus. When our minds are set on the Spirit we look at the events of our lives from God's point of view, not from the world's. Our value system is being changed and His influence begins to touch everything we do. We no longer see that the important thing is to make a lot of money. The important is discovered in seeking to glorify God.
In v.37-38 we read, "It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak."
Jewish weddings were held at night, and a bridegroom’s servants would have to wait for their master to come home with his bride. The new husband would certainly not want to be kept waiting at the door with his bride! But the servants had to be sure they were ready to go to work, with their robes tucked under their girdles so they were free to move.
But the remarkable thing in this story is that the master serves the servants! In Jewish weddings, the bride was treated like a queen and the groom like a king, so, we would not expect the “king” to minister to his staff. The King, the Lord Jesus Christ, will amazingly serve us when He greets us at His return.
To “watch” means to be alert, to be ready, not to be caught by surprise. This is the attitude we must have toward the next coming of Jesus Christ. His coming will be like that of a thief: unannounced and unexpected.
In v.39-40 we read, "But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."
No burglar sends a notice ahead of time of his arrival, but if he did he could count on being met by a reception committee. When the robber arrived, the householder would be ready. Since we do not know when our Lord is coming, we must remain ready at all times. And, we must be ready always to influence others to believe in Him and in His return.
Very often, when I am online, I will notice someone and begin to pray that the Lord would send someone into that person's life to share the Gospel with them. I do this in hopes they will come into God's kingdom. Recently, I was praying this prayer for a famous bass player who lives in Los Angeles. As I was praying, the Lord said to me, "How about you be the one I send to him?" I told the Lord, "Okay, but how?" A few days have gone by, and guess what? I am beginning a relationship with that guy as we speak. Who would have thought? Listen! Be ready, my friends, for His coming is soon!
