Words of Advent: Watch

^{Watch.  Jesus' own words on watching seem, at first glance, to be a bit cryptic.}  

³³ Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. ³⁴ It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. ³⁵ Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning— ³⁶ lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. ³⁷ And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!” (Mark 13:33-37)

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The first place I turn to in my search for meaning is the dictionary, to pinpoint a few definitions for this word, "watch."  And I find a few more than a few...

intransitive verb

1  a : to keep vigil as a devotional exercise

    b : to be awake during the night

2  a : to be attentive or vigilant

    b : to keep guard

3  a : to keep someone or something under close observation

    b : to observe as a spectator 

4     : to be expectant : wait 

 

transitive verb

1      : to keep under guard

2   a : to observe closely in order to check on action or change

     b : to look at : observe 

     c : to look on at

3   a : to take care of : tend

     b : to be careful of 

4      : to be on the alert for : bide

Now, that's a lot of definitions for one word.  But when I look at Jesus' words in light of these definitions - and in light of the coming of Christ - it's as if a lamp were turned on in the darkness.

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Keep vigil, out of devotion to Me.  Be awake, spiritually attentive.  Keep guard, that you don't slip into complacency.  Observe Me, learn from what I do and how I am.  Be expectant, waiting for me.  Look at Me, see Me, let your eyes be fixed on Me, always.  Tend your faith, take care of your heart, that it would not grow cold.  Be on alert, passionate for My arrival in your everyday, for My presence on this earth, and for My return as King. 

As I open my heart and life this season to interruption, I open eyes to watch for - and with - this One, this Savior that I love.  I hear His passionate plea tugging at my spirit, shaking me awake, inviting me to see the more that I too often pass by in my lack of watchfulness.  

Will I be like the one in love, watching at the window for her beloved to come home?  The little girl looking expectantly for her Papa's car to pull into the driveway?  

Or will I be sleeping through it all?