A Constant Readiness

[Daily Devotional]

A Constant Readiness 

     Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son
of man cometh. Matt. 24:44.  

     We are incapable of looking into the future, which often causes us
disquietude and unhappiness. But one of the greatest evidences we have of
the loving-kindness of God is His concealment of the events of the morrow.
Our ignorance of tomorrow makes us more vigilant and earnest today. We
cannot see what is before us. Our best-laid plans sometimes seem to be
unwise and faulty. We think, "If we only knew the future!" But God would
have His children trust in Him and be ready to go where He shall lead them.
We know not the precise time when our Lord shall be revealed in the clouds
of heaven, but He has told us that our only safety is in a constant
readiness--a position of watching and waiting. Whether we have one year
before us, or five, or ten, we are to be faithful to our trust today. We are
to perform each day's duties as faithfully as though that day were to be our
last.  

     We are not doing the will of God if we wait in idleness. To every man
He has given his work, and He expects each one to do his part with fidelity.
. . . As never before, resistance must be made against sin--against the
powers of darkness. The time demands energetic and determined activity on
the part of those who believe present truth. They should teach the truth by
both precept and example.  

     If the time seems long to wait for our Deliverer to come, if, bowed by
affliction and worn with toil, we feel impatient for our commission to
close, and to receive an honorable release from the warfare, let us
remember--and let the remembrance check every murmur--that God leaves us on
earth to encounter storms and conflicts, to perfect Christian character, to
become better acquainted with God our Father and Christ our Elder Brother,
and to do work for the Master in winning many souls to Christ, that with
glad heart we may hear the words "Well done, good and faithful servant; . .
. enter thou into the joy of thy lord" (Matt. 25:23).  

>From That I May Know Him - Page 358