Master of the House

Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

“Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ ”

Mark 13:33–37

Jesus gives us an analogy here for His second coming: that of a master of a house going on a long trip and leaving His servants to work and wait for his return.

The main point of this analogy is simple enough. Since his servants don’t know when their master might return, they must always keep watch to ensure they aren’t caught off guard or found sleeping when he arrives. We see this point illustrated most clearly in the keeper of the door. It’s his job to warn the house of the master’s approach and make sure a suitable welcome is ready when he arrives. So, he keeps watch at the door. It doesn’t matter if the master should come home in the middle of the night or the middle of the day, he must be watching and ready whenever he arrives.

There’s a second point here as well though. Jesus says in verse 34 that the master “puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task.” It isn’t enough to just watch for the master’s return; you also need to work. You need to faithfully do the task God has given you to do. You have to watch and work.

It reminds me of when I was in middle or high school and would stay home by myself during the summer. My mom would leave a list of jobs for me to do, and, of course, I would put them off until the end of the day. Then, suddenly I would look at the clock and realize that Mom was going to be home in 15 minutes. Then, I would run around like a crazy person trying to get an hour’s worth of work done in 15 minutes so my mom wouldn’t find me out.

I'm convinced that Jesus’ return is going to be like that for some Christians. The time for His coming is going to sneak up on them, and they will be embarrassed when their work is inspected. They will be embarrassed that they didn’t share the gospel with anyone, embarrassed that they didn’t use their spiritual gifts to serve the church, embarrassed that they laid up treasure on earth instead of in Heaven, embarrassed that they didn’t obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit to do those things God had specifically called them to do.

Do you know what your job is in the kingdom? Do you know what He has gifted you to do? What He has commanded you to do? If so, make sure you are working. Make sure you are watching. Make sure you are ready.