GETTING STARTED
As a boy, I would get into trouble now and then, as most boys are apt to do. One particular time, I got into trouble at school. When my father came home and heard about what I had done, he pulled me to the other room. He said, “When you leave this house, it’s my name you carry out there. Do not disgrace it.” That day I understood honor and had, for the first time in my life, a standard to live up to. From then on, I needed to live that out whether or not my dad was around to see.
- As a believer, what standards of God are you living up to?
- Are you faithful to those standards, even when you think no one is around to see?
READ THE WORD: LUKE 12:35-48 (ESV)
35 “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
41 Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?” 42 And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 45 But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. 47 And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. 48 But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.
English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
DIGGING DEEPER
- What does it mean to stay awake and ready? What was the master’s attitude when he found the servant alert in verse 37?
- Describe the differences in the passage between a good and a bad servant. How would you parallel this to the Christian life? What is our charge as believers?
- There was a responsibility entrusted to those who heard God’s word (vs. 48). If you are one to whom much has been given, how have you practiced, to the level of understanding you have about God’s will, living it out?
- What do you need to do to be ready for your master’s return?
RESPOND TO GOD
Peter asked a question in verse 41 that served as a bridge between two parables. Jesus didn’t answer Peter’s question directly. Instead, he only furthered his point. He spoke of the need to be spiritually awake, alert, and ready. We, as believers, are to serve to the best of our ability, whether being watched or not, for our master, Jesus, will come at an unknown hour. Will he find us living out the love and responsibility he has given to us?
- Pray you would stay spiritually awake and alert in your daily life.
- Accept God’s grace as you continue in your walk with the Lord. He is just to forgive.