The Monday after the Ninth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on August 3, 2026 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 12:32-48 (NKJV)
12:32 “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
35 “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; 36 and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. 38 And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 40 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
41 Then Peter said to Him, “Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?”
42 And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? 43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44 Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. 45 But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. 47 And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.”
Devotion
In today’s comforting words, our Lord Jesus speaks directly to anxious hearts. The Father delights to bestow upon us the eternal kingdom—not as wages earned, but as pure gift, received from His grace alone. This is the heart of the Gospel: Christ has won for us what we could never achieve. Therefore, Jesus calls us to loosen our grip on earthly treasures. Our hearts follow our treasure. When we cling to perishable goods, fear rules us. But when we trust the Father’s provision and serve our neighbor in love, our hearts rest secure in Christ. This is not a new law to earn salvation, but the fruit of faith—liberated generosity, flowing from the One who gave everything for us on the cross.
The Master will return unexpectedly. Blessed are the watchful servants whom He finds faithful, giving food to the household at the proper time. The wise manager lives in daily readiness; not in anxious striving, but in joyful stewardship. He knows his Lord is coming soon, yet serves with patience and diligence, trusting that the timing belongs to God.
Let us beware the unfaithful servant who, supposing the Master delayed, beats the others and lives for himself. Yet even here the Gospel shines: our readiness is not perfection, but repentance and faith in the returning Savior who serves us.
Collect: Let Thy merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of Thy humble servants; and, that they may obtain their petitions, make them to ask such things as shall please Thee; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
