My friend told me a story of how she let her cousin watch her house while their family vacationed in Hawaii. Due to unfortunate events, their family had to return home unexpectedly early. It was so unexpected that the cousin had no idea that the family was returning... so when the family returned the house was a mess! His clothes were everywhere, the dishes were piled high, and so on.... But if the cousin would have realized the family was returning, do you think he would have cleaned the house? I'm pretty sure he would have. The house would have been squeaky clean to show my friend that he could take care of what was given to him.
All that to say... Are you expecting Jesus' return everyday? Or are you living a life that figures he won't return until you are long gone from this earth? All I know is that I don't want my life to be a mess when he comes back, I want to show Him that I have taken care of what He has given me ( body, life, relationships) according to His Word.
The Bible shares a similar story with us in Matthew 25:1-13. It is the parable to the Ten Virgins. Five of them have oil in their lamps while they are waiting for their bridegroom and the other five do not. The other five figure they can get their oil when the bridegroom comes... but in the parable the bridegroom rejects them saying "I do not know you" and doesn't let them into the wedding banquet. This is a wake up call for me. I want to wait every day for Jesus, hoping that the "oil in my lamp" is ready for when he returns. "Oil" to me is faith in Jesus Christ and what he has done for me, but faith without works is dead (James 2:17). So while I have faith, I will also try to live my life according to that faith until he returns.
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