There are several instances in the Bible where disciples are told to watch. In most cases, that admonishment is coupled with other actions. This devotion looks at what is meant when believers are told to keep watch.
Nuggets
- Disciples must remain alert to keep on guard.
- Disciples watch for Jesus’ return, not knowing when that will be.
- Disciples watch for Satan and his shenanigans.
- The focus of our watchfulness is on God.
Matthew 25 gives us stories Jesus used to encourage His followers to watch. When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, He told His disciples to watch and pray (Mk. 14: 32-50). What did Jesus mean when He told His disciples — and us — to watch?
Be Alert
"Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Mt. 26: 41 ESV)
Disciples must remain alert to keep on guard.
Paul admonished believers to be sober-minded. “But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you” (II Tim. 4: 5 NLT).
This has nothing to do with alcohol. Sober is a character trait distinguished by self-control, genuineness, and sound moral judgment. It is a calm and temperate disposition.
Glossary
This is talking more discernment. Discernment means we can evaluate the situation and recognize right from wrong.
We have to be alert in every situation that God puts us in so that we can see how He wants us to use it to further His kingdom.
We Are Watching for Jesus
Disciples watch for Jesus’ return, not knowing when that will be.
Scriptures tell us to watch for Jesus to come again. “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back —whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’” (Mk. 13: 35-37 ESV).
Many have tried to set a date for Christ’s return, and many have warned the time is at hand. Even Paul did. “Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed” (Rom. 13: 11 ESV).
Yes, the world has kept on spinning since then. However, at one point, Paul’s world ended. He had to be ready for the time when there was no more time to get right with God.
Whether mankind’s time is up or our time is up individually, we have to be prepared to meet our Maker. “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (I Pet. 1: 13 ESV). We have to be ready.
We Are Watching for Satan
Disciples watch for Satan and his shenanigans.
We have to always look for Satan trying to trip us up. “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (I Pet. 5: 8 NIV).
Because Satan is looking to eat us alive, Paul warned us to “keep watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (I Cor. 16: 13 ESV). If we aren’t careful, we can slide away from the path on which God wants us.
Watching Means Being Focused on God
Every once in a while, we have to remind ourselves to pay attention. We have refocus on God and what He is calling us to do. We need to make sure we are following the do’s and don’ts to the best of our ability. No, we are not going to hit perfection, but we do need to live as God calls us to live.
Can We See Without Looking?
The focus of our watchfulness is on God.
Every once in a while, we have to remind ourselves to pay attention. We have refocus on God and what He is calling us to do.
We need to make sure we are following the do’s and don’ts to the best of our ability. No, we are not going to hit perfection, but we do need to live as God calls us to live.
We previously talked about hearing without listening. I think we can look without seeing, also.
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I think part of the way we see things is by using our minds to really see something. We have to evaluate what is God telling us. We have to determine how He is growing our relationship with Him. We have to decide where He is calling us to service.
But sometimes, we don’t pay attention. So we look but don’t see. We don’t process things to really see what God is telling us.
We need to open the eyes of our hearts. That comes from Ephesians 1: 18. It says, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people” (Eph. 1: 18 NIV). It is a metaphorical way of saying we need to open our hearts to God’s power and love.
In a previous devotion, we talked about God’s peace, mercy and love being at our center. We need to focus inward to tap into God’s foundation of peace, mercy, and love. When we open the eyes of our hearts, we acknowledge that God is living within us and we are obedient in responding to Him. We see Him within us.
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Making the Connections
To be alert, we need to be active. Being a believer is not a spectator sport.
We can’t just sit back and expect God to love us and shower us with good things. We have to choose to make Him our Sovereign God.
We can’t ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior and not change our lifestyles. We have to strive to live in the way that He wants.
We can’t become a child of God but think that is it. We have to prepare for His second coming.
We have to continually hook the watching with the praying. “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints” (Eph. 6: 18 ESV). We have to keep our eyes on the prize.
How Do We Apply This?
We have to up our prayer game. That puts the focus of the watching on God. It connects to strength and guidance. It unleashes the peace.
We need the peace, especially when we don’t know day and time for Jesus’ return. We need to connect with the One who does.
Go back to Ephesians 6: 18. That takes us back to the whole power suit thing. If we are watching but aren’t exactly sure what we are expecting, shouldn’t we suit up?
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But bottom line is, we need to be ready. We can’t wait until the last minute to ask Jesus to be our Savior. We can’t wait to submit to God. We can’t wait to start cleaning up our acts.
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We have to examine ourselves (II Cor. 13: 5). We have to start living the lives God wants us to live. We need to keep doing the work God has called us to do.
How are we going to figure out how God wants us to live? Read His Word. Talk to Him frequently. Process what we know and what He is telling us.
Should We Be Watching World Events?
Something that I have been asking myself lately is, should I be watching world events more closely? Should I up my knowledge about end-times prophecy?
Some think that “watch” instructs disciples to monitor what is happening in the world. If you are like me, sometimes you turn off the news because it is becoming more and more difficult to determine who to believe.
But are we as disciples supposed to identify when prophecies have been fulfilled? Are we supposed to “know” we are in the end times rather than take it on faith?
What do we know?
1. It’s coming.
2. We don’t know when or how, but it is coming.
3. There will be a lot of false alarms and false teachers.
4. “…lawlessness will be increased …” (Mt. 24: 12 ESV).
5. Once it is here, we won’t have time to change our status from non-believers to believers or sleepers to watchers.
Nothing that we are going to say or do is going to stop it from coming — or even slow it down. Maybe that isn’t where our focus should be.
Maybe we should keep our focus on us and what we do have control over. Luke 21: 34 says, “Be on your guard, so that your minds are not dulled from carousing, drunkenness,and worries of life, or that day will come on you unexpectedly” (CSB).
In other words, our focus should be making sure we are ready for Jesus to come again.
So, we can’t go to either extreme. We can’t get so obsessed as to the event for which we are watching.
Neither can we ignore it. Instead, we must “… climb up to [our] watchtower[s] and stand at [our] guardpost[s]. There [we] will wait to see what the LORD says and how he will answer [our] complaint[s]” (Hab. 2:1 NLT).
It is important that we keep watch for Christ’ return. Luke 12: 37-38 says, “Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants!” (ESV).
I, for one, do not think He was talking about the clock and the specific time of day. I think he was talking about the calendar and that there is going to be a D-Day when He picks up cloud and sickle.
God doesn’t want us to just sit here and do nothing. We are to have an active hand in living our lives. He wants us to watch for Him daily.
Father. We pledge our lives to You. We watch for Jesus’ return. Amen.
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