“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. . .” Matthew 24: 45-50, NIV.
Merciful God, please stay with us, as we seek to know Your will so that we may worship You in Spirit and in truth. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Today we will be talking about another attitude that will be prevalent in the days just before Jesus returns. An attitude of, “I have time, I can wait until all the signs have been fulfilled, then I will begin to get ready.” This was the problem with the servant (steward) in our Scripture. Although our Scripture calls him a servant, he was really doing the work of a steward. He had been “put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time.” It will do all of us good to see ourselves as stewards. Indeed we are all stewards of some part of God’s creation, and His work, here on earth. Several of the parables taught by the Savior dealt with the subject of stewardship (Matthew 25: 14-46). Part of the duties of a good steward includes caring for the “least of these.” Today, we will try to identify ways that will help us not to become “wicked” servants, or stewards.
If we observe the way our text begins, it would seem that there was a time when the servant or steward was considered “faithful and wise.” That is obviously why his Master left him in charge of the other servants. He knew that He could depend on him to get the work done. Perhaps that was during the period of his “first love” (Revelation 2: 4). Many of us come to Jesus full of love to Him, and zeal for His cause. But when the going gets rough, and “lawlessness abounds, “the love of many grow cold” (Matthew 24: 12). The years come and go, and the Savior has not returned as soon as we expected. We begin to think that the Savior may not be coming back in a hurry after all. We start rationalizing about what we should, or should not, be doing. Pretty soon, our actions are based on what feels right, versus what is right. We may even begin to doubt if Jesus is ever going to return after all. “Could it be that we have believed a lie all these years?” Therefore, we begin to fall back into many of our former behaviors. The old man [woman] of sin is resurrected, and we begin to live as we please. After all, “there is no heaven to gain or hell to shun.” Why not eat, drink, and be “merry;” and “mean” to those around us. We fail to realize that the Master did not tell us the day and the hour that He would return, but He did promise that He will return!
This scenario brings to mind a story I may, or may not, have shared with you before, of a lady who lived in a small village. One day a herald rode through the village blowing his trumpet and announcing that the queen was going to visit the village, and that the town folk should get ready for her visit. There was a lot of excitement in the village. People were seen painting their houses, and throwing out old furniture and bringing in new. They mowed their lawns and pruned their trees and raked their leaves faithfully, for the first year. By the second year, the lawns did not look as tidy; and here and there, you could see a house or two where the paint had begun to peel. The conversation had changed from, “what we are going to do during the visit of the queen,” to “what are the plans for today?” They were back to their routine activities; back to “business as usual,” with some exceptions. By the third year, you could count the homes that were “keeping up” their appearance. And by the seventh year, there was only one fine looking house in the entire village. People would pass by and smile and shake their heads at the owner of the little yellow house on the corner. Some would even dare to shout as they went by, “Still waiting for the queen, Mrs. Jones?” To which Mrs. Jones would reply, “Yes I am! Your Majesty said she would come, and I know that she will come!”
One evening, as the sun was beginning to set in the West, the sound of a trumpet was heard. It was the herald who was riding his white horse, leading the entourage that was accompanying her Majesty! Mrs. Jones was seated on her porch, adequately dressed, and with her surroundings nicely kept. As the queen and her entourage came to her home, the herald stopped and announced: “Your Majesty, here is someone who is expecting you.” Her majesty was helped out of her carriage, and was given a warm welcome into the home of Mrs. Jones. Needless to say, from that day forward, when people passed by the home of Mrs. Jones, there was no snickering. The topic was, “this is the home the queen visited when she came to our village.”
One fine day, the King will visit our village – Planet Earth. By His grace, let us be ready to look up and welcome Him as He descends. On that occasion, it is He who will welcome us into ‘the joy of [our] Lord!” May God grant that on that day, we might be found, not doing our own pleasure, but in a state of readiness!
NOTE: My regrets that this devotional is coming to you one day late. Inadvertently, it was not published yesterday.