GodReflection: Power Word Wednesday

The thief came when I wasn’t prepared. We had just moved into a rental property in one of the world’s mega-cities.

In a third world country the gap between the haves and the have not’s is reminiscent of an enormous canyon. My menial possessions made me a person of wealth when compared to the millions who lived in poverty.

To be watchful was to be safe.

We returned to our home after an evening visit across town to find the bedroom window busted open, the content of the house turned upside down, possessions missing, and the knowledge that the thieves helped themselves to dinner from the pots and pans we left on the stove.

We were unprepared. The windows weren’t secure. We failed to leave the lights on. An alarm system wasn’t in place.

We should have posted signs on the doors and windows reading, “All Thieves Welcome.”

That one violation of our home—frozen in time—propelled watchfulness to a new level over the past thirty years.

I suspect the people in Jesus’ audience who lived—as do the majority of today’s global residents—without security systems, without government protection, and without steel core doors and locks knew profoundly what it meant to watch.

Jesus took a common concept and gave it holy meaning. He gave new strength and meaning to the word watch as a tool to help me keep focus on the important.

In the vocabulary of Jesus, to watch becomes a word that influences destiny.

Watch out that no one deceives you. Keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. Watch out for the teachers of the law. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.

Here is what I think.

Jesus tells me to watch so that I will be ready when he returns.

What does that mean for me?

To start with—everyone I encounter throughout my day is human.

Some can’t correctly count change. Others dart in front of me to cut me off in traffic and to grab available parking spaces. Still others get my order wrong at the drive through—partly because humans who manage the place or corporate humans who live thousands of miles from the site, won’t fix the static in the speakers.

After all, mustard and mayonnaise surely sound alike as they make their way through the pop and crackle of static.

My point being—in a world of unpleasant static that goes far beyond the small offenses of my day—I must watch my actions to make sure I transmit behavior that mirrors Jesus love.

All who interact with me encounter one who is human. We humans tend to be imperfect.

It is important that I watch my heart.

Perhaps, this is the most powerful action I can take. Surely, nothing is higher on the list than to watch my heart day after day on my earth walk to make sure it is focused on the heart of God.

As I anxiously watch for Jesus’ return or wait and watch for the final hour of my walk, I want to watch my heart and honor the two actions closest to Jesus’ heart.

I must watch that I grow to love God with all of my heart, soul, and mind. And, I must watch that I grow each day to love others, placing their best interest in the sight line of my own heart.

To do so makes watch a word of power in my life don’t you think?

Stay tuned.

Dr. Gary J. Sorrells – A GodReflection on Watch as a Word of Power.

Gary@Godreflection.org     www.MakeYourVisionGoViral.com