PODCAST
Wide Awake!
March 17th, 2017
Mark 13:20-37
Jesus instructed His disciples regarding the end times: “False messiahs and false prophets will appear . . . So be on your guard” (vv. 22-23). Jesus told of heavenly signs attending the return of the Son of Man. He conveyed a parable–a lesson from the fig tree–to help the disciples be wary of that coming day. Then Jesus bore down: “No one knows” the time when this day will come, when the event will take place, so “Be on guard! Be alert!” (v. 33). He used another story to enhance this truth: A man left on a journey, put his servants in charge of things, and told the doorkeeper “to keep watch” (v. 34). The master of the house would return and it would be devastating to be found asleep.
It is challenging to “keep watch” spiritually. Culture, comfort, and compromise are seductive sedatives to the unsuspecting soul. We are mesmerized by materialism, fooled by the phantom of financial gain. While our eyes may not be shut, our attention is altogether somewhere else. The Master calls to us, “Watch!”
Author: John Rabo
