{"id":11740,"date":"2020-09-30T20:00:07","date_gmt":"2020-10-01T03:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/luke_12_22-34-copy\/"},"modified":"2020-09-27T16:02:20","modified_gmt":"2020-09-27T23:02:20","slug":"luke_12_35-48","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/luke_12_35-48\/","title":{"rendered":"Ready and Waiting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Luke 12:35-48\u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

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Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Luke 12:35-48.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Luke 12:35-48 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n35\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning,
\n36\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.
\n37\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.
\n38\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night.
\n39\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.
\n40\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
\n41\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?”
\n42\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time?
\n43\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns.
\n44\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
\n45\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the menservants and maidservants and to eat and drink and get drunk.
\n46\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.
\n47\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“That servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows.
\n48\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 35-48:\u00a0\u00a0Here Jesus shares a parable (or what some may consider to be two parables) about the kind of servant that pleases God.\u00a0\u00a0How do we apply these parables from Jesus to our lives?\u00a0\u00a0Here are four ways we can do so:<\/p>\n

1. See yourself as a servant of God.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Until Jesus comes again you want to have the mindset that \u201cGod does not exist to serve me.\u00a0\u00a0I exist to serve God.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0No matter what your current occupation is or what season of life you may be in, think of yourself as serving God when you carry out your responsibilities.\u00a0\u00a0As the apostle Paul would say, carry out your daily responsibilities \u201cas working for the Lord, not for men\u201d (Colossians 3:23).\u00a0\u00a0See yourself as a trustee of the time, the talents, and the resources that God has entrusted to you, knowing that one day you will be accountable to God for what you did with what He gave you (v48).<\/p>\n

2. Give your best when you work.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Whether you\u2019re serving at church, or serving at home, or serving at school or work, be known as someone who gives their best.\u00a0\u00a0Don\u2019t be a mediocre servant who gives half-hearted, half-baked service.\u00a0\u00a0Others and God can smell a mediocre effort from far and away whether or not they call you on it. As Colossians 3:23 says, \u201cWhatever you do, work at it with all your heart\u201d.<\/p>\n

3. Wait on God even as you work.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0As you\u2019re going about the day, from time to time talk to God.\u00a0\u00a0Try saying short simple phrases like \u201cGod thank You\u201d, \u201cGod I need You\u201d or \u201cBe glorified, God\u201d, or whatever else you want to say to God as you go through the day.\u00a0\u00a0When we talk to God this way, it can remind us of whom we are living for.\u00a0\u00a0It can also cause our hearts to long for more of God, waiting for Him expectantly and becoming more aware of His presence and our need for Him.<\/p>\n

4. Persevere to the end.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0In verse 38 Jesus describes servants who keep waiting for their master \u201ceven if he comes in the second or third watch of the night\u201d.\u00a0There Jesus is painting the picture of servants who persevere and keep doing the right thing over the long haul.<\/p>\n

If you keep serving God in the ways described above not just once in a while but consistently, not getting lazy or distracted, you will gain the respect of people, but even more God will take notice and reward you.\u00a0\u00a0As verse 37 says, \u201cIt will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lord Jesus, I declare that You do not exist to serve me, but I exist to serve You. I pray that You would always find me ready and willing to serve You, and that I would please You with the way I work.\u00a0\u00a0Please give me strength to persevere till the end.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

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Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Luke 12:35-48.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

On verses 35-48:\u00a0\u00a0Here Jesus shares a parable (or what some may consider to be two parables) about the kind of servant that pleases God.\u00a0\u00a0How do we apply these parables from Jesus to our lives?\u00a0\u00a0Here are four ways we can do so:<\/p>\n

1. See yourself as a servant of God.\u00a0\u00a0Until Jesus comes again you want to have the mindset that \u201cGod does not exist to serve me.\u00a0\u00a0I exist to serve God.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0No matter what your current occupation is or what season of life you may be in, think of yourself as serving God when you carry out your responsibilities.\u00a0\u00a0As the apostle Paul would say, carry out your daily responsibilities \u201cas working for the Lord, not for men\u201d (Colossians 3:23).\u00a0\u00a0See yourself as a trustee of the time, the talents, and the resources that God has entrusted to you, knowing that one day you will be accountable to God for what you did with what He gave you (v48).<\/p>\n

2. Give your best when you work.\u00a0\u00a0Whether you\u2019re serving at church, or serving at home, or serving at school or work, be known as someone who gives their best.\u00a0\u00a0Don\u2019t be a mediocre servant who gives half-hearted, half-baked service.\u00a0\u00a0Others and God can smell a mediocre effort from far and away whether or not they call you on it. As Colossians 3:23 says, \u201cWhatever you do, work at it with all your heart\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11742,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11740"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11760,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11740\/revisions\/11760"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}