The Unknown Day and Hour
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:
Be the Example
Have you ever felt too young—or too old—to do something important? Too small for a big job? Too inexperienced to contribute something meaningful? Too underqualified to make a real difference?
In the book of 1 Timothy, which is a God-inspired letter from Paul to his “son in the faith,” Timothy, Paul equips and encourages Timothy in things like doctrine, leadership, and living out the ways of God. He writes:
“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”
1 Timothy 4:12 NIV
If you’ve ever felt too young, remember that God has purposefully put you here, at this specific time in history. He desires to use your passion, drive, vision, energy, and ideas to magnify His glory. You see things from a unique vantage point, and that is a great thing.
If you’ve ever felt too old, remember that God has purposefully put you here, at this specific ...