Matthew 24:36-51 - "I Wish We'd All Been Ready"

Wow, Lord!  You are so awesome!  You just continue to amaze me over and over again.  I shouldn't be amazed but I am.  The way You use me is overwhelming at times.  To think that I, Sheila Burrows, is being used as Your servant is beyond me.  I thank You for speaking to me and giving me an opportunity to share with others what You want them to hear.  I pray for the two You gave me scripture and/or messages for today during worship.  I pray they will take what You wanted them to have and meditate on the words given.  I also pray for those who are "heart sick" and need to draw closer to You.  I must admit You giving me them to pray for in the invocation seemed a bit weird yet as the service went on it made sense.  

It is astonishing the statistics Doc gave on believers.  Lord, help us as individuals and as a church to reach out to people who need You to be King of Kings and Lord of Lords of their lives.  Father, I pray You will open doors that need opened and close doors that need closed for people to come to the end of themselves so they may seek You.  I pray for those who are dealing with a physical illness in their own body or in a loved one; a death; addiction; family issues; financial issues; anything that is taking them to the end of themselves.  It is there that they will find You in a different way.  

I was thinking about our unsaved list of people that we pray over.  Yes, it is important for us to pray for them but what about the people we know of that know the Lord yet aren't in relationship with Him?  We need to pray for their souls.  As Doc said this morning, time is running short.  We will never have the seconds that have just passed back.  

Matthew 24:36-51 reads…

36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[f] but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.  42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.  45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

When I read these verses, I put myself in the shoes of the servant.  Am I being a "…faithful and wise servant…"?  The Lord continues to give me things to do for Him.  When I am obedient and do as He desires, I am blessed.  I was thinking about how there are times He asks things of me that don't make sense to me or that I am afraid the receiver will think I'm off the wall.  I can't allow anything to stop me from being obedient.  I don't want to come to the end of my time on this earth to find out I've disappointed the Lord.  I also don't want to be a hypocrite.  My talk and my walk need to be the same.  

Dear Jesus,
You are so awesome!  Thank You for the reminders You put before me today on the importance of being obedient.  Thank You for the five who were saved this morning.  Thank You for Doc's fever breaking.  Thank You for physical strength for him as he gave us what You desired for us to hear this morning.  Father, I am so grateful for so many things.  You are just so awesome in the way You continue to use me.  I was blown away yesterday when I found out Dorothy passed minutes after You woke me to pray for her family.  And then today to have two opportunities to share Your words on one-on-one situations!  Woo hoo!  Thank You for open ears to You.  Father, I do pray for those who are "heart-sick" and pray they will come into relationship with You.  Lord, as Doc said this morning, our time is short.  More of You and less of me continues to be my prayer as I continue on this path of servanthood.  I pray for people to realize the urgency to be ready for Your return.  Thank You Jesus for being My Master.  Amen.