Daddy's Home

"Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." Matthew 24:44

Do you tend to rush around the house in a panic, cleaning things up and putting things away when you hear that company's coming?

Are you more concerned with a new Easter dress or tie than a joyful and grateful Easter heart?

Growing up, we had a family cat.  My father was not fond of cats and did not want them in the house under any circumstance.  This was particularly because of the tremendous damage they would do as well as the smell they left behind.  He didn't want any animal or any thing destroying his home, and rightly so.  Unlike Daddy, the rest of us in the family were quite fond of the furry felines, and would welcome them in the house the minute Daddy's car left the driveway.  We knew he would be gone for a very long time, and typically ate dinner late in the evening.  At dinnertime, the call rang out like the midnight ride of Paul Revere when one of us heard his car.  "Daddy's home!  Put the cat out!"  It was an unnecessarily duplicitous way to live, and Daddy could always tell the cat had been there, too.

Have you ever done that?  More importantly, are you doing that with God?

In the Old Testament, when Moses went up Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments from the Lord, Scripture tells us that the people "turned aside quickly" from following God's way and had Aaron build for them a golden calf to worship (read Exodus 32).  It was the people's impatience that actually proved the condition of their hearts.

I wonder.

Will our impatience prove the same?  Or, will we be as the sons of Levi—on the Lord's side (Exodus 32:26)?  Will we be steadfast in going about our Lord's work, the good things He's prepared for us to walk in (Ephesians 2:10)?  Or, have we let the cat in (those pet sins never truly repented of) the minute He backed out of the driveway?

"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes." Matthew 24:45-46

Time to put the cat out for good.

Goodnight, Runners.