Watchfulness
Pastor Eric Chan
“So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. ”
We live in a time of acceleration and change – an exciting time, but also one that is potentially dangerous for individuals and societies. In a recent book, award-winning journalist Thomas Friedman noted that technological advancements have led to an era where “the pace of technological and scientific change outstrips the speed with which human beings and societies can usually adapt.”[1] What might this mean for us as Christians? How can we cope better during such times?
One important quality that Scripture encourages us to develop – which is particularly helpful for our day - is watchfulness. The Cambridge Dictionary defines being “watchful” as “giving careful attention so as to notice what is happening and be prepared for something that might happen.” For the Christian, it means to be spiritually alert: to give careful attention to what God is saying through His Word and Spirit about things that are happening in and around us.
God used the example of a watchman to describe an important aspect of Ezekiel’s prophetic task. A watchman would stand guard, usually at an elevated position with a strategic view of the surroundings, and look out for impending threats. He would warn his people of what was coming on the horizon so that they could prepare. Ezekiel’s responsibility was to watch and warn God’s people. The people would suffer for their indifference if they did not respond to his warning. However, Ezekiel would be held responsible for the consequences if he did not sound his alarm to warn the people. This was a heavy burden that most people would not want to bear but it was a critical task.
Watching and Praying in a Time of Change
How is watchfulness relevant today? What do we watch for? We are looking for God’s perspective on an issue. Let me suggest a few areas we should watch out for.
Firstly, we ought to watch out for the condition of our hearts. Proverbs 4:23 tells us: “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” Dallas Willard once wrote that the heart is “the executive centre of the self.”[2] In other words, our heart is like a command centre that affects the rest of our lives.
However, the struggles of our hearts are not solved by purely looking within ourselves. Jesus said that the most important commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). It is in loving God that we find the joy, strength and resolve to face the challenges and temptations of our day.
To put it another way, loving God is the best anchor and protection that we have from the challenges of our changing world. We are less likely to be caught up in anxiety, comparison, temptation or the fear of the unknown when our attention is fixed on the One who holds all things in His hand.
Are you loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength? Is Netflix or the latest online obsession subtly drawing your heart away from worship and Word? Are certain sins, ungodly attitudes and compromises becoming more tolerable to you recently? Ask our great Physician to heal and cleanse you from any signs of spiritual sickness. Ask God for grace to love Him wholeheartedly!
Secondly, we ought to watch out for people in our family and church community. This means to pray for our family and church members and to look out for their well-being. Parents are not just bread-and-butter providers, but also spiritual tutors and guardians of their children (Deut. 6:5-7). Children ought to pray for their parents and siblings.
Church leaders “keep watch” over the lives of their members, and members are called to uphold their leaders in prayer (Heb. 13:17-19). Brothers and sisters in our community groups ought to pray for one another (James 5:16).
One way to grow in watchfulness is to take a few minutes at the end of your devotional time to pray for others. Ask God: who would You want me to pray for today? There are times when the Holy Spirit may place a specific person and burden in your heart to pray for. Follow that leading.
Other times, God may just gently bring to mind an incident or a statement someone made that suggests or indicates a certain struggle or need for prayer. Uphold them in prayer.
In some situations, you may need to speak to or even warn your brother or sister (Gal. 6:1).
Thirdly, we are to watch and discern the times. What is God’s perspective about the flurry of news and opinions that we hear daily? What is Scripture and the Holy Spirit saying to us? How should we then live?
God often has a very different perspective from even the wisest of earthly men, who tend to consider God’s ways foolish (1 Cor. 2:14). In Psalm 73, the psalmist was frustrated that the wicked seemed to be prospering and getting away with evil. He was disheartened, until “I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end” (Ps. 73:17). The psalmist – a believer like all of us – had to learn to discern God’s perspective. In contrast, Jesus tells us that many people will be spiritually oblivious and numb in the last days. They will be eating, drinking, marrying and obsessed with their earthly concerns until it is too late (Matt. 24:38-39).
A good watchman is neither alarmist nor fearful. He has to observe and interpret the nature and intentions of an approaching party carefully. To give a false alarm would damage his credibility and inadvertently “harden” the hearts of those he is to warn. At the same time, he must not fear the inconveniences and reactions of the people when his observation and discernment point him to a credible and impending threat.
May God give us wisdom and discernment to be good “watchmen” and “watchwomen” as we navigate through changing times!
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[1]Thomas L. Friedman, Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist's Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations (Great Britain, UK: Allen Lane, 2016), 37.
[2] Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy (HarperOne, 2009), 92.