31 Dec New Year’s Eve – 12/31/2020

The gospel for this day is from Luke, in the 12^th chapter. Jesus has just reminded us that worrying cannot add a single hour to our lives. Boy, that’s easy for Him to say! What about all the stuff we worry about, who’s going to worry about all that if we don’t?

You get His point. Our worry can effect no change. Instead, He says at verse 35, stay dressed and ready for action – don’t worry about what might be, but be ready for what might come, ready in a spiritual sense. His words “stay dressed and ready for action” have a military, or at least militant, connotation. The context is of slaves – your Bible says servants – waiting for their master to return, and His people are alert and ready to open the door for Him.

Notice, then, what happens – when the wedding feast concludes and He returns, who serves whom? The Master serves the slaves! The reality of that great reversal, one of Luke’s constant themes, is the amazing and comforting bit of this periscope. Don’t consume yourselves with worry, Jesus says, instead, remain faithful and ready and remember He has the plan and the means to rescue us from all our worries.

A new year, already. We pray that this New Year will surpass the last, bring solutions to at least some of the terrible problems we have faced, and we pray this night for all those who need His comforting word, including us! Let’s simply make this next year a better one in our hearts of faith as we wait patiently, and ready, for Him.

PP