TEXT: MATT. 24:48-49

''But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;/And shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;''

When there is a deep-seated conviction that Christ's coming or death could be soon in a saint, he is hereby armed against presumption, carelessness and sinful sleep in the hours of duty; there is nothing that promotes readiness of heart as uncertain certainty. So, to be cured of flippancy and unwatchfulness, a believer stands in need of a deep-rooted conviction that his Lord and King may come at an hour he looks not for Him. Brethren, the day of our Lord's arrival or the days appointed for our death, knows no man: many look upon the blessings of God as a sign that He might not come anytime soon: these deluded saints reason thus: 'God has blessed me with lands and money, He will not come until I have enjoyed them: if not, why this blessings?' Some think because they are sound in health and still young, death cannot yet come to them. This is one of the way many are kept from strictness and exactness in the faith. Loved ones, say not, 'My lord delayeth his coming' Allow no comfort in life to whisper to you saying 'Thy lord delayeth his coming, relax, eat, drink and be merry!' Witness the servant in our text above, at what time he accepts the hissing of the enemy of his soul into his heart that his lord delays his coming, he begins to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunks. When we set the day of our master's second coming far away, piety, godliness and watchfulness would be strange to us. Let us therefore, be people who constantly muse upon the soon-coming day of Christ. Saints please armed yourself with this mind, that Christ or death could come anytime. He who says, 'My lord delayeth his coming' disarmed himself against carelessness of life and the needed readiness proper to a believer in Christ. If God spared not His Son, but gave Him up for our sins, what is there in letting us in on the day of His second coming? I believe He kept this day from us so as to keep us ever vigilant: so, the refusal of the knowledge of the day of His second coming, is expected to keep us in a ready shape.

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Ojoje Adeyi