Dear Faith Family, 

Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour, (Matthew 25:13). 

There it is!  The phone yielded a message: “Tornado Watch”.  Conditions are favorable for a potential tornado.  (I confess that I’m not comfortable using the word “favorable” in the same sentence as the word “tornado”!)  As I look out of my office window, daytime has given way to nighttime (It’s just after 10:00 in the morning!).  This has been a short day! 

Listening to the buckets of rain coming down, do we simply keep on doing whatever it is that we were doing (watching TV, walking the dog – ok maybe not that, working, oiling the sewing machine, thinking about lunch, cleaning the cat litter)?  Those tasks are rather indifferent towards a tornado watch, right? 

What’s the point?  Well, Jesus told a story about some ladies awaiting the bridegroom.  You ought to read it, Matthew 25:1-13.  The point of His story?  Watch.  Pay attention.  Be alert.  Be mindful.  Refrain from sleeping.  Why?  Like, what are we looking for? 

Jesus is going to return.  You do know that, right?  It’s not a question of if.  It is a question of when.  Truth:  we don’t know when.  In the meantime, Jesus calls us to watch.  Picture the shepherds looking intently (keeping watch) after their sheep.  That’s what we’re looking for – the return of Jesus!  We are to live our lives in the shadow of His return. 

Now, that doesn’t mean that the sewing machine doesn’t get oiled or that the dog doesn’t get walked, or even that the cat litter doesn’t get changed (nice try though).  It does mean that we train our minds to continue to look for His return.  It does mean that we begin to think of even what we might call menial tasks in the light of His return.  How do we recognize His presence in all of life, including the details?  How does our current schedule reflect the return of Jesus? 

I guess I just wanted to remind you that Jesus is coming back!  Keep watching! 

Watching, 
Pastor Karl