Note: On Tuesdays and some Sundays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
“Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks.” (Luke 12:35-36, NRSVCE)
Back in my teens, I was precisely the kind of babysitter parents wanted to hire. I played with the kids, changed the diapers, prepared and doled out the snacks, and got everyone to bed on time. My friends, male or female, didn’t come over, and I didn’t chat on the phone. Small wonder, then, that my weekends were booked weeks in advance. Oh, and I didn’t fall asleep, even when the parents said they’d be out late and to feel free to nap on the couch after the kids were zonked out. I was too concerned about my charges’ nightmares and the slight potential for fire, lightning, tornadoes, intruders, you name it.
Would that I had been as concerned about being ready for the 
Lord.
I pretty much ignored Him for decades, consciously and unconsciously. Fortunately, once a series of whirlwinds awoke me, I’ve tried not to fall back asleep.
But it’s hard, isn’t it? Constant vigilance takes a lot of mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical energy. Would just a little gossip or negativity really hurt anything? Would letting just one day of not saying hello to the man playing the horn at the metro stop really hurt anything? Would holding fast on Commitment Sunday despite a bit of a raise or other financial gain really hurt anything?
Only, I guess, if you lack inside knowledge about when your earthly death or the Second Coming is coming… and if you’d be a bit uncomfortable explaining to the Lord that it was more important to you to sleep than to keep that lamp lit while you were waiting for Him.
