Pam Padgett ... teacher
Although we don't know when Jesus
will return, Jesus told how we are to be as we wait for His return ....
Luke 12:35 Let your loins be
girded about, and your lights burning; 36 And ye yourselves like
unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding;
that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. 37
Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching:
verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to
meat, and will come forth and serve them.
We are to have our loins girded about (dressed
and prepared) …. dressed
in the “new man” by daily dealing with ourselves and each matter we face
according to the will of God, being led by the Holy Spirit. No longer following the ways of this world,
lusts of the flesh, or thoughts from the devil, but turning to God and walking
in each word we are given. Seeking to please God, not ourselves or other people.
Ephesians 4:22 That ye put off
concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to
the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that
ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true
holiness.
We are also to have our lights
burning ... staying alert, walking soberly and circumspectly in truth from
God, praying, and diligently doing the work God has assigned to us ...
Ephesians 5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) 10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. 13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. 14 Wherefore he saith,
Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee
light. 15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 16
Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Wherefore be ye not unwise,
but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
1Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my
beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of
the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
And we are to wait and watch for the return of Jesus, not becoming
distracted or lazy, but to daily be prepared for His return.
Luke 12:38 And if he shall come in
the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are
those servants. 39 And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known
what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered
his house to be broken through. 40 Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son
of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.