Watching through Serving     

“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone.” Matthew 25:14 NLT

In our current year 2024 there has been a great emphasis put on the return of Christ by Christians and the coming of the apocalypse, or end of the world as they see it, by non-Christians. Fueling this are current events as the Israel-Hamas war, the war in Ukraine, increasing government corruption in many nations around the world including the United States, the never-ending stream of violence, the recent solar eclipse, and now the dual event of the 13- and 17-year cicadas emerging at the same time in few short weeks. No doubt these are troubling times and the Lord’s return would be pleasant welcome but are we, as Christians, watching for His return through serving Him or are we serving the interests of the prognosticators of our day.

In Matthew 25 we find another one of Jesus’ many parables concerning the kingdom of heaven. The parable of the Three Servants, or more commonly known as the parable of the Talents, is a story of three employees given responsibilities to be carried out in their boss’s absence. He entrusted them with his investments so his work would continue to carry on. Upon his return, which he did not specify when that would be, he expected those assignments to be completed and for his employees to be at work. Returning home the boss did find two of them faithful in their assignments, doubling the investments. The third employee neglected his responsibility of investing in his boss’s work only to give him back what he was entrusted with. He failed to bring in further investments in his boss’s business.

The boss or ‘master’ in this parable is a representation of Jesus. The employees or servants of Jesus is us. He has given each of us assignments according to our ability to serve Him, bringing others into the kingdom and increasing His investment. Serving the Lord wholeheartedly focuses our minds on His return. Charles R. Erdman says, “Those who are faithful in their work are in a true sense watching for the coming of the King.” When we truly serve Jesus, the King, we acknowledge His return and anticipate it. Let us be careful not to neglect our work by hiding the truth of the gospel while investing our time with the prophets of the apocalypse. Jesus is coming back unexpectedly so keep watching through serving.

Read: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2025%3A14-30&version=NLT