Verse: ‭‭Mark‬ ‭13:32-37‬ ‭ESV‬‬
“”But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.””

Devotion
Here, Jesus talks about the second coming— specifically how we will not know when that is going to take place. This is something that can be challenging for all of us, even those of you who like me, prefer to fly by the seat of your pants.

While I am not the best at planning things out, I still absolutely prefer to know what to expect with my schedule. Here it is made clear that no one will know of the second coming, not even Jesus. This is huge to note because the Son of God was not even made aware of when this was going to happen.

The parable uses the illustration of an owner leaving his home, expecting the housekeepers to remain alert and on guard, for they will not know when the owner will decide to come back. Repeatedly it is noted for us to stay awake, alert, and prepared.

To me, this means that we need to avoid complacency, or even that feeling of comfort we may presently have. When we are content in our walk with Christ, that means be begin to try less. Our spiritual disciplines can begin to suffer, and we can even let laziness set in. This is why we should stay alert, and stay awake to avoid these circumstances.

I challenge you to set a concrete schedule of when you are going to be in the word— and make sure you block out a chunk of time so you have the ability to dive into the text, and also spend some time in prayer. If you find it difficult to focus and do this on your own, find an accountability partner that you can spend time in the word with, or even just someone who you can meet with to discuss what you’ve read. Accountability is a great way to make sure you are staying awake in many aspects of your life!

Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, Please challenge us to continue to strengthen our spiritual disciplines. Give us the opportunity to find an accountability partner if we don’t have one, and help us to have an open and honest heart with that person. Please continue to help us to glorify you in all that we do. In Your Heavenly name I pray, Amen.

Author: Justin Artymenko