Jesus said, "So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming" (Matthew 24:42). How are we supposed to do that? That's a good question. The questions are always good when the person answering them is the same one asking them, though. The entire Matthew 24 chapter, which I am not going to quote (you can go back and read it yourself if you want), gives us the signs to watch for. Like I said in my last blog post, if Jesus did not want us to know the signs of his coming, he wouldn't have told us about any of them. He would have kept them to himself. But he did tell us many signs that his return would be near so that we would not be ignorant about the signs of the times. We keep watch by being familiar with those signs and seeing how they match church and world conditions. That doesn't mean we should go sit out on our patios and divide our time by only watching the news on our phones and looking up to the sky. Jesus gave us a Great Commission before returning to Heaven. "Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19-20). We are to be active in fulfilling these instructions while paying attention to the signs of the times around us.
To know that the Lord's return will be a day of reward, though, is a great comfort. It brings a sense of purpose to what sometimes feels like the mundane everyday tasks of life. "So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). I like how Paul did that. He mentions two specific things--eating and drinking--and then he's like, "Oh, let's just throw everything in there!" So whether you are writing a blog post, recording a podcast, cleaning your bathroom, organizing your stuff, raising your children, getting up in the morning, going to sleep at night, getting your oil changed, recreational time with friends and family--this list could go on forever--do it all for God's glory. Those things that we do that glorify God with that as our motive we will be rewarded for in eternity. Any wrong things believers or right things that we do with wrong motives will not count toward our eternal rewards. Our salvation is determined by faith, not works. "God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it" (Ephesians 2:8-9). Our rewards, however, are determined by works done in faith for God's glory. "For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. Anyone who builds on that foundation may use various materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on Judgment Day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames" (1 Corinthians 3:11-15).
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