“Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching…” Luke 12:37

Watching

This morning while praying, I looked out my window and saw a familiar stray cat on our roof, lying in a sunbeam. The morning was cold and I suppose she was quite content. But the longer I kept my eyes on her, the more I saw how intently watchful she was. Her ears twitched a bit, her tail fluttered at the tip, her fur shivered almost imperceptively. She was watching over our back yard, probably waiting for breakfast to arrive as it ran across the grass.

She was focused on something she wanted very much. She knew it would come—it always comes sooner or later. Suddenly seeing what she was looking for, she jumped up and silently ran across the roof to a nearby oak tree, where she could reach a branch and climb to the ground.

Seldom do I see such watchfulness, such intense focus, within myself. Yet this is just what Jesus wants us to do: watch for Him to come. Our Scripture today is taken from the Bible passage about the servants who were watching for their master to return from a wedding, so that when he knocked, they could open the door immediately and let him in. This is perhaps a less-known passage than the one about the ten virgins who were told to be ready for the bridegroom’s appearing, but the message is the same: Watch. Be ready.

Jesus is coming, and He insists that we watch for Him. “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keps his (her) garments, lest he (she) walk naked and they see his (her) shame” (Revelation 16:15). He WILL come at the time His Father has determined, just as His birth was at the time His Father had determined. Some people were waiting and watching, like Simeon who was in the temple when baby Jesus was brought in to be presented to God. “And behold, there was a man in Jersualem whose name was Simeon, and this  man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel [Messiah who was to bring comfort to His people], and the Holy Spirit was upon him” (Luke 2:25). Others were just going about their day, not watching, and thus not seeing the obvious—the one thing they most needed.

We don’t know when Jesus will come again. Jesus Himself didn’t know the timing. “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only…. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming… Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:36-44)

Most of us would say we are ready—but are we watching?

“Jesus, teach us how to truly watch for Your second coming. Keep us attentive and focused. In Your Name we pray. Amen.”