Big Idea: We ought to live with priorities that reflect the Son of Man is coming.
Luke 12, like Luke 11, is a chapter rich in warnings against anxiety. The birds are fed by their Maker, but He is your Father; don't you realize He will care for you? But the sharpest warnings against worry in this chapter seem to be rooted in the fact that the most important things are the ones we could not stockpile anyway. How many smiles can you deposit in the bank? How many hugs from someone you love can you put off today so you can have them tomorrow instead? The things that we can pile up are the very things that we cannot keep anyway. Either they will rot, moths will eat them, or we will die. All the things we can worry about, we are going to lose.
Younger Kids: When you are playing hide and seek, how high do you normally count? How would you play differently if you did not know how high the person was counting? Would you get ready right away, or take your time looking for the best spot? If we do not know when Jesus will come again, how should we act today?
Older Kids: When your parents leave you at home with chores to do and say they will be back at a certain time, when do you start working? What do you do with the rest of the time? What would you do if you did not know when they would be back? How do you think God will respond if He has told us He is coming and we waste the time He has given us?
If we realize that Jesus is coming again to set up His Kingdom, we will live with a sense of urgency and purpose. If He finds we have been serving faithfully, then He will come to serve us, giving us rewards which we could never dream of. But if when He returns, we have wasted our time on games, we will lose everything we thought we had. Jesus left us when He died on the cross and took the punishment for our sins, then He rose again on the third day and ascended up to Heaven. He has told us He will return, although we don't know when, and told us to be about the business of making disciples in the meantime. If we are fishers of men, then we will have nothing to worry about, because the things we love will be the things we can never lose.
Discussion idea: Why do you think that people who believe in God are still tempted to live for the physical stuff of this world like money, prestige and power?
Prayer focus: Pray that Jesus would let us live with the joy of security in Him and the passion of expecting Him to return at any moment.
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