Watch Out!

By R.W. McAlister

 

    The word “watch” is found 63 times in the Bible in various senses. Jesus said to His disciples at Gethsemane, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me” (Mt. 26:38). Then, in v. 41: “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation…” Paul wrote in I Cor. 16:13-14:  “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith…” We need to be concerned with the command to “watch,” meaning that we must be alert. When you read through the New Testament, you’ll find several places where Christians are told to watch so that they’ll remain faithful. Here are just a few ways in which we must watch:

    1. Elders are to watch out for our souls. Hebrews 13:17: “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.”

    2. Christians should always be watching how they conduct their lives so that they’ll be ready for the second coming of Christ.  Mark 13:35-37: “Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: 36Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. 37And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.”

    3. Watch for opportunities to teach others about Christ. John 4:35: “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.”

    4. Watch for false teachers. I John 4:1: “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” Also, Romans 16:17: “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.”

    5. Watch our temper and our speech. James 1:19-20: “… my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 20For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” 

    Christians, friends, in all these areas, we must be watching! Are you? 

- R.W. McAlister served as a minister to the Anna Church of Christ in Anna, IL until his death in October 2021.This was his own home congregation in which he grew up. R.W. was a beloved member of his community and a popular teacher in the agriculture department at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, MO. To visit the congregation's website go to: http://www.annachurchofchrist.com/