THE EGG RANCH AND THE RETURN OF THE MASTER

Mark 13:32-37 ¶ “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”

I think the Lord must find humor in the foolishness that is on display before Him by the dunces we call the human race. One of those sterling examples of human ingenuity was on full display one day at the B & C Egg Ranch in the San Joaquin Valley during my Bible School days. As you may know, I worked at the egg ranch for my first year of Bible College. I still hurt myself laughing at some of the Keystone Cop type episodes that used to fill my days. On this one notorious day the boss left the ranch to take care of business. As they say, “When the cat’s away, the mice will play.” That particular day the mice were in full play mode. They were drinking coffee in the break room and playing cards for hours while taking shifts climbing up to the top of the feed hopper to watch for the boss’s return. It would have been easier to work than to go through the routine involved in being a slacker while the boss was gone. I remember trying to double up on the work while he was gone (I guess I joined in the stupidity trying to cover for them by doing extra work).
I can clearly remember the thoughts and the feelings I had that day, wondering when the boss would return and wondering if any one would get busted. As I did my work and the slackers work, I kept thinking about the obvious spiritual parallel. The Master has gone away and left us in charge of the “ranch”. He has given us clear tasks to perform. He said He would be back soon and our reward would be with Him. Just like the so called workers at the egg ranch, many people today act as if the Master will never return. They are involved in their daily activities, after all the cat is away and there is plenty playing to do.
The boss finally came home, the man on the feed hopper came scurrying down warning everyone of his return. Everyone rushed to their work areas, and were busily at work when the boss came in. He never said anything but he had a strange smile on his face when he came to check my work. The ranch manager wasn’t stupid, neither is the Master in heaven.