I heard Luke 12:35-40 (ESV) today, which says “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 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. 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. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 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. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
This scripture speaks of being ready, keeping your lamps burning, and waiting for the master to return. It speaks of those the master finds awake when he comes, and says they are blessed. It says you must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
After hearing this scripture, my mind immediately went to bowhunting. Crazy huh?! Why bowhunting, you ask? Well let me tell you…
I’ve been bowhunting many times, and have lost my chance to harvest a deer because I was either sleeping, daydreaming, eating, adjusting, or just flat out not paying attention. It never ceases to amaze me how those sneaky critters can just pop up out of nowhere!
For those of you who have never been bowhunting, it’s a waiting game where you must pay attention to the absolute best of your ability. The first one to spot the other, has the best chance to be blessed. Us, to harvest the deer. For the deer, to escape the harvest! You have to constantly listen for any twig to snap, for any leaf to be crunched, while at the same time, you watch for any form of movement. The slightest shade of brown between the trees. A branch, or even weeds to move. You also pay attention to see if other animals will give away another creature. A bird or a squirrel may look in the direction of an approaching deer you can’t see yet. In bowhunting, versus rifle hunting, you are up close and personal with the deer. You must be very still, very quiet, and there’s not much room for error.
Until now, I’d thought these scriptures in Luke were about being ready for Jesus' return. What I got today is a bit different. What if we are to be ready to hear the still small voice of God at any given moment? What if we could be ready so we could hear God asking us to do something? To hear God giving us that little bit of wisdom we’ve been praying for? To hear God whispering to us to pray for a loved one? To feel God wanting to give us a follow up on a conversation we’d had earlier?
What if being ready and anticipating the return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus, also put us in tune to hear and respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit? What if being ready wasn’t just about the end of time on Earth, but so we could be more productive while we are here?
I can think of many things that take my attention away from God. Facebook, TV, work, heck…even hunting. Blessed will I be, will we be, when we can be ready, while doing the things we are called to do, and even the things we enjoy doing.
Lord Jesus, I pray we will be ready for You. Our distractions must decrease, so your voice can increase. Amen.
Kevin Weston, 02-21-2020
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