Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.
Mark 13:33, NKJV
Stay Alert
Imagine you work in someone’s home. One day, the master of the home leaves and entrusts you to steward their property, and you have no idea when they will return. What would you do?
Take a nap? Throw a party? Eat all the food in the pantry? Ignore instructions?
No. A faithful servant would follow their master’s directions and keep the home ready for their return.
Jesus’ parable in Mark 13:32-37 illustrates that the same is true of what our Master, Jesus, has given us—possessions, gifts, talents, and the like. It’s not really ours, after all—He left it in our care temporarily. We don’t know when He will return, "whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn" (Mark 13:35, NIV). But God’s Word tells us what we should do in the meantime.
Here are a few tasks our Master has for us while we wait:
- Stay alert and vigilant. (Mark 13:33)
- Pray for all the Lord’s people. (Ephesians 6:18)
- Serve one another with our spiritual gifts. (1 Peter 4:10)
- Care for the needy. (James 2:14–17)
- Practice humility. (Philippians 2:3–4)
Let’s stay on guard for when “someday” becomes a reality.
Share your faith: Live today like Jesus is coming back tomorrow. Because, one day, He will.
Challenge: Tell someone that salvation can be fully and freely theirs—by trusting in the finished work of Jesus!
Prayer: Lord, remind me to stay alert, be on guard, and continually look for you! Help me to steward Your entrusted gifts faithfully. Guide me to serve, pray, and care for others, keeping vigilant as I await Your return. Amen.
Note after sharing the devotional: The same day as this devotional popped up in my Bible app, I came across a couple YouTube videos concerning the end times, specifically as it pertains to the events around the Euphrates River. One of the key lines in Scripture detailing this topic can be found below:
13 Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.
Later, another verse speaks on the same topic as well:
12 Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. 13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
The videos I came across talked about how the Euphrates is currently drying up at historic levels. Additionally, there have arisen several videos taken at the scene of demonic yelling taking place below the river. In other words, the events as recorded from the two above excerpts from the Book of Revelation are primed to unfold soon. Additionally, the particular devotional and watching the YouTube videos occurred on my birthday which happened fairly recently (I’m just that far ahead on scheduling and posting blog posts!). As such, I felt like these were part of a set of watchwords for this next year of life.
1 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
11 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12 But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
Matthew 25:1-13, NKJV
The point of this parable is to keep the Holy Spirit fire in you burning. That’s what the oil symbolizes. So, how do we do that? First, get saved. Receive Jesus Christ as your personal King and Savior, and submit your life to Him. Second, let God sanctify you (purify you, make you holy) and cleanse you from all sin. Third, and especially as the world continues to get worse and worse, grow in the knowledge of God and His Word. Understand from a Biblical perspective what is going on in the world, and also understand what God will do for all those who have received Him and choose to love Him, even in the worst of times. And fourth, tell others about Jesus and what He did for you and is doing for you. Like I am doing just now. Or however God chooses to have you do.
