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.”
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