"Are You Watching?"

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” -Matthew 24:42 (NIV)

Are you a “watcher”? Do you watch for specific things? We all are pretty much “watchers” when it comes down to it. We watch for things like: the new movie coming out, those Sunday ads, something we ordered through the mail, etc. We tend to watch for those things that are most important to us. My wife (who this devotion was inspired by), watches for a lot of things… especially around back-to-school time. She watches for fliers informing her of “the tax-free weekend”. She watches for notes, letters, emails, etc. coming home from teachers. She watches for the bus coming to pick our two boys up for school. She watches for the bus coming to drop them off at our house after school. She watches and watches. Then one day, in the midst of all this “watching”…Jesus spoke to her. This is what he said:

“Valerie…you’re watching for a lot of things. But what I want to know is…are you watching for ME?

She told me about this shortly afterwards. She told me what Jesus had said to her. And then she said: “Wow….I never really thought about that! I’m watching for a lot of things, but I haven’t really been watching for what was most important: Jesus!” When she told me that, I felt really convicted! I had to ask myself: “I also watch for a lot of things coming up: anniversaries (especially mine), birthdays, holidays, the next season of my favorite TV show, etc. But…am I watching for Him? Am I watching for what’s most important? Am I watching for The King of Kings and The Lord of Lords?” Are You?

The word “watch” (according to "Biblegateway.com") is mentioned over eighty-seven times in the Bible (“Genesis” to “Revelation”). If God, His Son Jesus, and His followers found it necessary to give the warning to “watch” that many times…it must be because they felt it was very important. And if it was important to them, then it ought to be important to us. Don’t you think so? I do. Let’s all try to get into the habit of watching. Not just for the little things in life, but also the big things. In fact…the BIGGEST thing: The Second Coming of Christ! Because He is!