To be watchful means to be alert, sober, to be careful, to be on guard, to be clear minded and examine things carefully before taking action.
It is for our good that the Lord enjoys us to be watchful. We need to be watchful so that we do not loos the salvation we have received of God. We live in perilous times, and the Scriptures warn that "the love of many will wax cold and many will fall away from the faith". It behoves the believer therefore to watch. The Lord had emphasised the essence of living and warned that we " take heed and best aware of covetousness, " because a man's life consist not in the abundance of the things when he possesses.
The Lord is coming soon, we do not know the hour. He will come for a people without blemish. Hence, we must make it our singular objective to please Him at all times and in all things. We need to keep watch of our lives and doctrine so as to be acceptable to Him at His coming.
- We need to be watchful against Satan: Satan does not want anyone to make eternity with God; seeking for whom to devour, he tries to hinder the believer from being watchful; John 10:10 explains his aim. This goes beyond the physical, he also targets the believer's spiritual stand with God.
- We also need to be watchful of sin: Whatever is contrary to the word of God is sin. We must be careful of the times we live, wherein sin and sinners are celebrated while holy and righteous people are ridiculed. Where civilization and "modern" Christianity have departed from the paths of holiness and righteousness. We must remember that God and His standard are the same forever, and cannot reduced to suit the convenience of any man.
- We need to be watchful of self: Self entails the lust of the the eyes which is the desire to possess everything one set his eyes on, by all means which is contrary to godliness with contentment. We have lust of the flesh as well which crave to satisfy carnal desire. Lust of Pride of life, which is being full of self, believing that whatever one achieves is by own strength, wisdom etc.
If we are not watchful, we will be taken on aware. We become easy prey to strange doctrines. The confusion and misdirection in our present day church over basic scriptural doctrines, eg issue of dressing, making money by all means even if the congregation has to be manipulated, issue of ordination etc. All these could be contributed to lack of vigilance. And lastly, eternity in hell is a consequence in not being watchful.
CALL TO ACTION
Let us all keep a close watch over our lives and doctrine. We must constantly ensure that we are not yielding to sin, given to a life of greed or walking in agreement with the principles of the evil world system.
Thank you for reading
Shalom