Blessed are those
slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say
to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them
recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them.
Luke
12:37 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
This blessing is in
the middle of a warning Jesus gave instructing us to be ready to meet Him,
whether that comes after death or at His return makes no difference. He likens
it to a servant who is waiting at home for his master to return. The servant
who is diligent and faithful while the master is gone will receive his reward
when the master returns. The master will in turn serve the servant when he has
fulfilled his mission. Note that we should not be working only so that we can
receive the reward, counting down the days until we can “retire” from serving
God. That is the product of impure motives and selfish love. The point of being
alert is to be diligent and sincere to the end. We don’t know when Jesus will
return or when we will die, likely it will be when we least expect it and so
will not be on guard. We need to serve Him genuinely out of love and gratitude
so that we are always doing that work and will be found true no matter when it
happens. The key to this is in the genuine love of our hearts. If our hearts
are focused on getting what we think we deserve and looking out for ourselves
then we will be found wanting, unprepared and unworthy. But if our hearts are
focused on genuinely serving Him, then we will always be doing the work which
pleases Him and we will be ready at any time. The reward is great, but it
requires a genuine heart devoted to serving God. Be ready, serve sincerely and
be blessed!
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