Matthew 24:36-51

³⁶ “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son,^[b] but the Father only. ³⁷ For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸ For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰ Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. ⁴² Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. ⁴³ But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴ Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

⁴⁵ “Who then is the faithful and wise servant,^[c] whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. ⁴⁷ Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ ⁴⁹ and begins to beat his fellow servants^[d] and eats and drinks with drunkards, ⁵⁰ the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know ⁵¹ and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

In Matthew 24 Jesus speaks about the coming of the Son of Man, that is, his return. He speaks about recognizing the signs of his return. He says that no one knows when he will return, and just like in the days of Noah, we will not see it coming, and by the time we do see it, it will be too late.  

This is why it is so important to be ready; we have no idea when he will return. When he does return, there is no more time for repentance, there is no time to do good, and we will be judged. Jesus says we should be alert, for he will come when you do not think he will. We have been warned and so this is why we should be always alert and expecting Him.

This is not easy, but we should be living each day not fighting with this world but expecting him to return and being obedient as we wait. Yes, we need to live this life and work and provide, but are these things consuming us more than God’s business? He wants us to live life, and as we do this, we need to love others and help those in need, showing them the love of God while we wait. Perhaps, while there is still time, they will experience the love of God and come to repentance and know God. But the point here is: are we always ready or are we so consumed by this world that we get distracted and forget that any moment now can be the time of his return? He warns us so we will not be caught off guard, so let us be alert and wait obediently and be in a place of constant readiness as much as possible.