Watch And Be Ready
No one knows when the Son of Man will return. The angels of heaven do not know. Only God knows. When the Son of Man comes the second time, the world will be destroyed with fire. This will not be the first time that the world would have been destroyed. Anytime God destroys the world, He does not give notice of when He will do it. It’s like a surprise. The Bible likens the second coming of the Son of Man to a “thief” who breaks into a house. The master of the house has no idea that his house would be broken into because if he did, he would have watched and prevented the thief from breaking into his house.
In Matthew 24: 42, 44, we are told to “watch” and we are told to “be ready”. Matthew 24: 42 (NKJV) states “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming” and Matthew 24:44 (NKJV) states: “Therefore, you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” What does it mean to watch and be ready for the coming of the Son of Man.
In the days of Noah, when God destroyed the earth with water, the Bible tells us that Noah was a just and perfect man, and walked closely with God. Genesis 6:9 (NLT) states that “Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God.” So when God was sorry that He had created the world, He spoke to Noah and gave him instructions on what to do in order that he may save the human race and all the other living things. Noah listened to God’s instructions and built the ark according to the specifications that God had given him.
The Bible tells us that while Noah built the ark, the other people were eating and drinking and getting married. Business as usual. Clearly, when we are eating and drinking all the time, we will not be in a watchful and ready state to be saved when the world is destroyed. Luke 17:26-30 (NKJV) states, “And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” Is that not the same thing we see these days? Party here, party there? Wedding here, wedding there? Deals here and there?
Noah was not doing business as usual. He was not partying like the other men of his time. He remained righteous and walked in close fellowship with God. He opened his ear and heart and listened to God when God spoke to him. It may not have made any sense to build such a huge ark and then go and live inside and wait. But because of his close fellowship with God, it made it easy for him to do exactly what God had told him to do and he was saved from destruction. Note that it was Noah, his sons, his wife and his sons’ wives that were saved. His entire family unit because the head of the family unit found grace in the eyes of God by walking in close fellowship with God.
Watching also means being ready. In the parable of the ten virgins who went out to meet the bridegroom, we are told that the five wise virgins took oil in their vessels with their lamps. It means they were ready or prepared for every situation. So when the bridegroom finally arrived, they did not have to go looking for oil like the five foolish virgins. See Matthew 25:1-13. The wise virgins went in with the bridegroom because they were ready. Matthew 25:10 (NKJV) states, “… the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.” When the other virgins returned and asked to be let into the wedding, the Lord said He did not know them. Jesus then said “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” See Matthew 25:13 (NKJV).
Let us be like the five wise virgins in the parable in Matthew 25:1-13. Let us watch and be ready like Noah when the Son of Man comes the second time so that we are saved. God bless you!
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