The Bewares: "Watch and Pray"

Mar 13:33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. KJV

Mar 13:34 It's like a man who takes a trip, leaving home and putting his servants in charge, each assigned a task, and commanding the gatekeeper to stand watch.
Mar 13:35 So, stay at your post, watching. You have no idea when the homeowner is returning, whether evening, midnight, cockcrow, or morning.
Mar 13:36 You don't want him showing up unannounced, with you asleep on the job.
Mar 13:37 I say it to you, and I'm saying it to all: Stay at your post. Keep watch." MSG

"Watch and Pray" is a very common exhortation throughout the New Testament. It means to be alert, sober, and to be in constant prayer.

Jesus uses a story to stress the importance of Christians "staying alert and awake" in waiting for His coming. In another story, Jesus tells of ten virgins who all fell asleep but five had oil in their lamps and five did not. The five with oil were ready for the coming of the Bridegroom and the five who ran out of oil were not ready. Undoubtedly, in both of these stories Jesus is telling us that the temptation to fall asleep before His coming is quite real and that many will succumb to it.

Are followers of Christ nodding off today just before His coming? And if so how are Christians falling asleep today? Yes, many are sleeping spiritually today and of course don't realize it. Let me suggest several reasons for this.

#1 - APATHY: Like the church of Ephesus in Revelation, many Christians today "have left their first love." They no longer do the "first works" and have grown cold and indifferent. The remedy is the same today as it was in the day..."Repent, and do the first works."

#2 - SELF-CENTEREDNESS: Today's church is centered around "getting my blessing" or serving one's self. "If there is not anything in it for me, then I won't participate or get involved..." is the attitude of many Christians today. Jesus' command of "picking up the cross, denying self, and following after Him" is a foreign concept to many Christians today.

#3 - SPIRITUAL PRIDE: Like the church of at Laodicea, many Christian church attenders are proud spiritually but do not see that they stand before Almighty God as "miserable, poor, blind, and naked." They see themselves as spiritually abounding and wealthy, but Jesus tells them that they are lukewarm and that their lukewarmness nauseates God to the point of Him vomiting them out of His mouth [Hey, read it for yourself. I don't make this stuff up...Revelation 3:16, 17].

I am sure there are other "sleeping aids" that are causing many to sleep spiritually today. In closing, I leave you with the words of Jesus and I encourage you to WAKE UP and SEEK THE FACE OF CHRIST before you sleep right on through the coming of Christ. What a tragedy that would be!

Rev 3:18 I advise you, then, to buy gold from me, pure gold, in order to be rich. Buy also white clothing to dress yourself and cover up your shameful nakedness. Buy also some ointment to put on your eyes, so that you may see. GNB