Thinking about staying awake . . . not because I’m having trouble doing it right now . . . but because my reading this morning in Matthew 24 commands it. And it brings to mind an event that occurred 35 years ago this summer . . . an event where I didn’t stay awake. It was around midnight and I was driving back to the rail cars where I slept. I was a young, in shape (. . . I’m in shape now, as well . . . but it’s pear shape . . . ), laborer on a Canadian Pacific Railroad extra gang in the Rogers Pass of the Rocky Mountains. That summer I had learned how to work hard during the day . . . and also learned how to blow off steam at night. It was after one of those nights, when driving back to camp, that I learned the importance of staying awake. One moment I’m cruising down an empty mountain highway . . . listening to some rockin’ tunes on my cassette player (like I said, 35 years ago) . . . and the next morning there’s some dude calling to me through my front windshield asking, “Are you OK?” . . . I wasn’t.

Long story short, I had fallen asleep while driving my car. While I snoozed, I went off the road . . . down an embankment . . . and into a large, large chunk of mountain. Never knew what hit me . . . more accurately, never knew what I hit. Not until I came to, with the car engine in the front seat with me and hearing that voice calling to me, did I realize what had happened . . . and the damage that had been done to my body. Had it not been for the Father’s determined will to give me into the hands of His Son . . . and, for a guardian angel or two which I’m sure were dispatched to the scene . . . I shudder to think of what the outcome could have been. So, as one who has fallen asleep at the wheel . . . the Lord Jesus’ words resonate deeply this morning . . .

. . . Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. . . . Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. (Matthew 24:42, 44 ESV)

Jesus is coming again.

He has come once already . . . visiting via a virgin birth . . . living incognito for most of the 33 years He was here as an unassuming carpenter . . . but then “going public”, as the Lamb of God come to take away the sin of world (John 1:29) . . . embarking on a three year whirlwind ministry tour . . . calling people to repentance . . . inviting them to come to Him as Savior . . . dying on a cross for their sins in accordance with the Scriptures . . . buried in a rich man’s tomb . . . and rising on the third day, also in accordance with the Scriptures . . . eventually ascending into heaven . . . angels declaring, with promise, His intent to return (Acts 1:9-11).

Jesus is coming again . . . but this time it will be a “coming on the clouds of heaven with power and glory” (Matt. 24:30). With a loud trumpet call He will send out His angels to gather His elect (v.31). Concerning the day and hour, no one knows (v.36) . . . in fact, it will be at an hour we do not expect (v. 44) . . . therefore, stay awake . . . therefore, be ready.

Oh, to be caught snoozin’ at the wheel when the King returns . . . as a servant of the Master, to be found goofing off when He returns . . . to all of sudden come to, and to be surprised as I behold the Son’s glory and hear the Savior’s voice saying, “Are you OK?” . . . I dread the thought!

Instead, that I might be ever mindful of His return . . . be ever determined, as much as lies in me, to be about the business the Master has asked me to conduct . . . that I might be found awake . . . that I might be found ready . . .

That I might be OK . . . by His grace . . . and for His glory . . .