Devotional: Stay Ready. Stay Productive.

Reading: Matthew 25:1-30
Marked: verse 13- "Keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour."

In Matthew 25: 1-13, Jesus tells the story of women who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. Wise ones took oil in jars along with their lamps. Now, the bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. Because of advance preparations, the wise were still ready to meet Him when he arrived. In verse 13, Jesus tells us what to learn: "Keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour."

In verses 14-28, Jesus tells the story of a master going on a journey. He called his servants and entrusted portions of his own wealth according to each one's ability, then left. Two made a profit from the trust while one simply set it aside to keep it intact. The master returned and rewarded the productive servants with more opportunities and they joined in his celebration. The servant who did nothing lost the trust and was removed from the servantship. From verse 26, we realize that the desire of Jesus is that we make something out of the trust He has given us.

It's been many years since the Lord Jesus walked the earth. Christianity has spread and advanced in a number of ways. The church has burned with great fire and zeal for the Gospel of Christ and to date and efforts are paying off.The propagation of the Gospel is more doable than it was before. In many places, Christians have freedom to declare themselves and live publicly as Christians. And with more tolerance, less persecution or torture, the air of freedom and openness have bred laxity, irresponsibility, ignorance, and compromise in some believers.

These 2 parables drive home 2 important things God wants to see in our lives today. The 2 lessons to be learned here is very relevant to believers today. We need to stay ready and we need to stay productive.

Stay ready.
Scriptures teach us how to stay ready and in order to stay ready, the Christian must remember his purpose and stay on it. Ephesians 2:10 teaches that we are created for good works. Moreso, God has already prepared ahead that we do these. Our life is to be dedicated to bringing good into the sphere we move and live in.

Matthew 28:19-20 maps out for us what Jesus wants us to do for His Kingdom: to make disciples, that is, to teach and influence people to live a life of obedience to Christ. It goes without saying that our primary directive is to lead people to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

When we remember our purpose and stay on it, we stay ready for the Lord's coming at anytime. When He comes, we will be in the very state He desires to find us in.

Stay Productive.
God has given us a trust and He requires us to be faithful with the trust given us.(1 Cor. 4:2)
1 Peter 4:10 says, "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms." We are to put the trust to good use. Winning the lost for Christ, helping and edifying the church, spreading good in an evil world: all these and more are to be a byproduct of our life and giftings.

photo credits:

lamp- Alice Key Studio

bag of gold- Dizzy Roseblade