Are you keeping watch?
Mark 13:37 “’What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’
“You better watch out….”
I’m pretty sure that you know how the rest of this song goes. I’m not going to get into the whole Santa discussion, but if all people are watching for and looking forward to at this time of the year is Santa Claus, it is no wonder that there are so many who are disappointed or sad.
The words of Jesus in our Bible verse for this week remind us that at this time of the year we as Christians we are not just to be watching and preparing (spoiler – next week’s devotion) for Jesus’ coming as a baby at Christmas.
The watching which is the focus of our devotion for this week is a reminder that as long as we are alive here on earth we are to be watching and ready for Jesus to come back on The Last Day (Judgment Day). Think back to what we’ve talked about in recent devotions of how the devil is constantly trying to distract and or/tempt us and you quickly realize why we need the reminder to “Watch!”.
There is something else in our verse for this week which we dare not overlook – “I say to everyone”. We might be tempted to think that the reminder to “Watch!” is applicable to others, because we are good enough Christians and are exempt.
If you every find yourself in that frame of mind, remember the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:12 “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!”.
Here are a few things we can do to make sure that we are always watching and ready for Jesus’ return as judge:
Pray: Prayer is that wonderful gift which God has given to us to allow us to talk to him to ask him for his blessings, thank him for those blessings and tell him what is on our mind. It would only be fitting to use that privilege of prayer to ask God to help us be watchful and ready for his return.
Be in the Word: While prayer allows us to talk to God and ask him to help us remain watchful, it is being in the Word of God, the Bible which will help us stay strong in our faith and fight off the temptations of being lazy or arrogant in our faith.
Perhaps an example from everyday life will help you think about this a little more. Remember those days when you were younger and your parents went out for the evening and left you and your siblings home? There were specific instructions of what you were supposed to do and what you were not to do. They gave you these instructions and then told you what time they would be home. Did you ever test the boundaries and try to do something you were told not to do? Did it ever happen to you that your parents came home early and caught you doing something you weren’t supposed to be doing? You know that there were consequences and likely punishment.
As painful as it might have been to deal with the consequences and punishment from our parents, that was only temporary. If we fail to watch for our Lord to return, the consequences are horribly eternal!
The picture on the left was on the cover of the service folder at the church service my wife and I attended this weekend.
I share it with you because I think it is a good visual summary of our devotion and Bible verse for this week.
Are you sleeping or keeping watch?