Watch with me

So, my dear friends, listen carefully; those who embrace these my ways are most blessed. Mark a life of discipline and live wisely; don’t squander your precious life. Blessed the man, blessed the woman, who listens to me, awake and ready for me each morning, alert and responsive as I start my day’s work. When you find me, you find life, real life, to say nothing of God’s good pleasure. But if you wrong me, you damage your very soul; when you reject me, you’re flirting with death. (Proverbs 8:32-36)

Having a "storehouse" gives us the ability to "save up" for the days of leanness that are sure to come. God's storehouse has resources always available for us: Direction; Strength; Success; and Insight. We can access his storehouse at any time - making the necessary withdrawals. It is also important to lay up for times of leanness in our own lives - things like Trust, Patience, Endurance, and even Faith. The blessings God distributes to his children are also things we need to "tuck away" in our storehouses: Unending Riches such as wealth, honor, justice, and emotional wholeness. Sometimes we only think of wealth in the sense of what we have in our bank accounts and investments - God thinks of wealth as what we possess in the way of relationships! Gaining the right perspective on what he prepares for us as "items" which "fill our storehouses" will help us to embrace them as they are provided.

Those who have full storehouses possess the ability to remain watchful. They are constantly on the lookout for what will best "fill" the storehouse. Following Christ involves watchfulness. It is easy to miss what can "fill" you like nothing else ever will - just because you are neither watching "for" nor "after" what you have been given. One is expectation - the other is nurturing. We expect, so we watch "for". We want to preserve and have at the ready, so we watch "after" what we have been entrusted with until it is nurtured into something of full value in our lives.

The concept of "watching after" what we are given in life is foreign to many. We live in a world of disposable everything - even relationships. The first relationship to watch over is the one we have with our Creator and Lord, Jesus Christ. If there is insufficient attention paid toward maintaining this one, all the others we work on maintaining will pale in comparison. The thing which keeps relationships strong is the willingness to nurture them. Nurturing requires some investment on the part of the individual within the relationship. Nurturing involves feeding - we have to "feed" any relationship. When we don't "feed" our bodies, what happens? We run down, don't think very clearly, and soon we begin to burn muscle / fat - reserves we have stored up against a "future day". The same is true in relationship - when we don't regularly "feed" it, we burn through the "reserves" we have built up within it! Just sayin!

Place that guard!

Guard: To keep safe from harm or danger; protect; watch over.  In most cases, when scripture refers to God placing a "guard" over our lives, he is saying he is giving us protection, keeping watch, over our lives.  When he asks us to "guard" something, he is asking us to keep a particular thing under close watch in order to prevent some kind of misconduct.  The protection over our lives comes from God - the prevention of things which might put us in harms way is partly our responsibility - for obedience is paramount to our safety. 

GOD guards you from every evil, he guards your very life. He guards you when you leave and when you return, he guards you now, he guards you always. (Psalm 121:7-8 MSG)

GOD - Jehovah - the unchangeable one - places a guard over your lives.  The one who is unchangeable in all his promises - incapable of misrepresenting the truth - watches over our every step.  The one who is capable of becoming all we need is there with a watchful eye, anticipating our next steps and providing all we will need in the next moments.  The God of divine compassion and all holiness is watching over, keeping us safe from harm, in order to keep us whole and holy in him.  What we are incapable of doing, he does on our behalf.

Every evil is against us in this world - regardless of whether we are quick to realize the presence of evil or not.  The moment we choose to follow Christ, all of Satan's efforts are directed at keeping us from making any progress in our relationship with Jesus.  The moment we take even one step closer to intimate relationship with him, the war begins to wage against us.  Why? Satan is threatened by us!  The righteousness of God within us, the hope of eternity lived out in the presence of a holy God, this threatens him.  He doesn't want to live in hell alone, my friends!  He hopes for a vast multitude to join him.

Our very life is guarded - not because we might not see the threats and be able to respond to them, but because we might be deceived into believing that evil is good.  Remember, all evil is masked with just a little bit of truth in order to get people to buy into it in the first place.  If you look at marketing campaigns worldwide, you will realize the power of putting just a little truth up front in swaying people to want your "product".  Don't be deceived - Satan is no different in his "sell" tactics in your life!  We need this guard, for we may be deceived by the element of truth and miss the all-out lie right under the surface.

Leaving and returning - no movement is outside of God's view - he sees it all and his watchfulness over our lives goes from one movement to the next.  He even anticipates our movements, because he knows what we will choose even before we choose.  Yet he allows our freewill - the right to choose in spite of the danger in the choice we may make.  Why?  He doesn't want robots, he wants submitted children.  Submission is not a choice to be "lorded over", but a choice to be under the leadership of our Lord.  Leaving and returning under the leadership of one so all-knowing and all-powerful certainly places us in a better place of safety than taking steps based on our own wisdom and abilities.

There is no end to his watchfulness.  This should give us cause to celebrate, my friends.  The moment we say "yes" to Jesus, we say "yes" to his watchfulness over our lives.  Here we find rest - in the knowledge that the one who knows us best is in the driver's seat of our lives - protecting, guiding, and providing.  Just sayin!

Standing Guard

To "keep watch" implies there will be continual action in observing - more or less as a sentinel or protector over someone or something.  If you have ever been told to "keep watch" you know just how difficult this is - for "continual" action of any sort on our part is pretty doggone difficult.  Why?  We are dis-tractable creatures.  We find more excuses for diverting our attention away from the task at hand.  In the sense we are thinking of in our illustration, the word implies this watchfulness which is without break in attentiveness.  In the way we think about "keeping watch", we think means a frequent "revisit" to the subject at hand, but not this brooding oversight which never, never takes an eye off the subject.  Both definitions of "continual" would be entirely accurate - one suggestive of human ability, the other of divine!

Keep watch over me and keep me out of trouble; don’t let me down when I run to you.  Use all your skill to put me together; I wait to see your finished product.  (Psalm 25:20-21 MSG)

God's watchfulness over us is of the continual - uninterrupted - kind.  He needs to direct this kind of attention toward us because we have ways of getting ourselves into messes quicker than cells divide!  Another word for one who keeps watch is a "sentry" - the one who is both the eyes and ears of your present position.  He can see anyone or anything coming, and he can capably challenge anyone or anything entering your location.  Now, if this doesn't aptly describe how God maintains a "watchfulness" over us, I don't know what does.  I think there could be a lesson or two we could learn by exploring how God totally fulfills the role of "sentry" over our lives:

1)  A sentry takes charge of his post - in the most literal sense, the sentry is the main one to give the orders, make the decisions, etc.  I think this is the starting point for God's care over our lives - as the one in charge, he guides us into the decisions we should be making, the directions we should be taking, etc.  To be in charge implies no matter what "rank" or "authority" you may claim, no one and nothing "outranks" the sentry in charge.  As such, he has the final authority over every decision made.  

2)  A sentry remains alert at all times - never altering his focus or attention to the details around him.  There is no hiding out, no taking a little time off. The sentry is watchful - vigilantly looking around for anything or anyone posing a threat, invading the location he defends.  Probably one of the most misunderstood duties involved in this role of being constantly watchful is the duty to investigate what doesn't look or sound right.  God's watchfulness over our lives often challenges us to not accept something at face-value, but to investigate it with detail and tenacity - because we only ferret out the enemy when we put him to the test!

3)  A sentry is ever-vigilant to any threats - knowing a threat averted is not a threat eliminated.  A sentry may challenge an interloper - one who doesn't belong.  The interloper may feel the advancing of his position is not possible because of this challenge, but it doesn't mean he won't try again - just from a different vantage point.  This means the sentry has to be vigilant (alert to) any and all threats - even those which are averted.  God's watchfulness over us doesn't settle for "averted" threats, but remains ever vigilant to observe the next attack of the interloper - knowing full well there will come another threat!  The interloper just doesn't realize the one who is at the watch is going to be the one making it impossible for him to advance his position!

4)  A sentry reports on the status of his post - knowing the status of the watch is important for all to understand.  In the old days, before walkie-talkies and cell phones, the sentry would relay his status by calling out, "Three bells, and all is well", or some similar report.  Why?  It gave those who depended on his watchfulness the ability to rest knowing he stood his ground and remained ever-vigilant at his post.  

5)  A sentry never left his post until he was properly relieved - because an unmanned post was an opportunity for intrusions which could afford an crippling attack.  The threats to our security come when a guard is not maintained - not when the sentry remains at the post.  God's "post" over our lives is not one he ever abandons.  Nor is there anyone able to relieve him of his post.  This is good news for those of us who count on his watchfulness to keep us safe against all manner of threat.

6)  A sentry doesn't spend time in idle chatter - his communications are purposeful and aimed at communicating specific details.  I think this describes God's communication with us perfectly, for he doesn't engage in idle chatter with us.  When he speaks, we are to listen - because his message is important and it contains information for our protection.

7)  A sentry sounds an alarm whenever a threat is identified - not to alarm those he guards, but to arouse them to defend their position.  Some of us think God's "alarm" sounded in our lives is to cause us panic - but when he sounds an alarm it is to protect us, not send us into a frenzy.  We need to be aware of the "alarms" of his watchful eye - for they often signal us to dangers unrecognized by us.  They are to alert us, making us pay a little more attention, and then to act upon his instructions.

These are just a few duties of the sentry - aptly descriptive of the duties as God displays them in his watchfulness over us.  I don't know about you, but just knowing we have such a "sentry" over our lives helps me rest a little easier.  Just sayin!

Watching FOR and AFTER

Yesterday we examined the importance of having a "storehouse" - the ability to "save up" for the days of leanness.  God's storehouse has some always available resources for us:  Good advice; Strength; Success; Direction; and Insight.  We can access his storehouse at any time - making the necessary withdrawals.  Yet, there is an importance of laying up for times of leanness in our own lives - things like Trust, Patience, Endurance, and even Faith.  The blessings God distributes to his children are also things we need to "tuck away" in our storehouses:  Unending Riches such as wealth, honor, justice, and emotional wholeness.  Sometimes we only think of wealth in the sense of what we have in our bank accounts and investments - God thinks of wealth as what we possess in the way of relationships!  Gaining the right perspective on what he prepares for us as "items" which "fill our storehouses" will help us to embrace them as they are provided.

So, my dear friends, listen carefully; those who embrace these my ways are most blessed.  Mark a life of discipline and live wisely; don’t squander your precious life.  Blessed the man, blessed the woman, who listens to me, awake and ready for me each morning, alert and responsive as I start my day’s work.  When you find me, you find life, real life, to say nothing of God’s good pleasure.  But if you wrong me, you damage your very soul; when you reject me, you’re flirting with death.  (Proverbs 8:32-36 MSG)

One of the fundamental concepts about those who have full storehouses is their ability to remain watchful.  They are constantly on the lookout for what is the best to "fill" the storehouse.  Following Christ involves watchfulness - it is easy to miss the one who you don't watch for or after.  It is easy to miss something which can "fill" you like nothing else ever will - just because your are neither watching "for" nor "after" what you have been given.  One is expectation - the other is nurturing.  We expect, so we watch "for".  We want to preserve and have at the ready, so we watch "after" what we have been entrusted until it is nurtured into something of full value in our lives.  

The concept of "watching after" what we are given in life is foreign to many. We live in a world of disposable everything - even relationships.  The first relationship to watch over is the one we have with our Creator and Lord, Jesus Christ.  If there is insufficient attention paid toward maintaining this one, all the others we work on maintaining will pale in comparison.  The thing which keeps relationships strong is the willingness to nurture them.  Nurturing requires some investment on the part of the individual within the relationship. Nurturing involves feeding - we have to "feed" any relationship.  When we don't "feed" our bodies, what happens?  We run down, don't think very clearly, and soon we begin to burn muscle / fat - reserves we have stored up against a "future day".  The same is true in relationship - when we don't regularly "feed" it, we burn through the "reserves" we have built up within it!

Nurturing also carries the idea of protecting.  We protect what we value, don't we?  I have insurance on my car, not so much because it is the law, but because it gets me too and from everywhere I need to be.  To be without it for any length of time, or to lose it completely, would place me in a position of having to walk long distances - something not very appealing to me!  I "insure" my vehicle because I value the convenience of having this transportation.  The insurance is a means of protecting this huge investment. The same is true in relationship - we invest in, watch over, and insure the existence of it because we value it.  It has a "declared worth" in our hearts and minds.  

Nurturing also speaks to the support and encouragement which is so desperately needed in times of growth and development.  Relationships require support and encouragement as they move or transition from one level to the next.  Nothing is easy as it applies to moving into a deeper and more meaningful relationship with God or another individual.  Both require much support - both flourish when they are encouraged.  We sometimes experience relationship "burnout" because we don't feel the support of another, nor do we sense there is any encouragement from the other to keep pursuing any depth within the relationship.  At this point, what we do in our relationships with each other determines whether they will "last" or "split apart".  Sometimes the difference is made is the tiniest bit of encouragement - even a glimmer of light is better than nothing at all.

What we have been speaking about today is something we might call development.  We cannot be in relationship with anyone if there is arrested development - if development stops, there is a lack of continued growth. Where there is a lack of growth, there will be insufficient "supply" in our storehouses.  To ensure "full" storehouses, we must focus on the development and growth of that which results in their "filling".  Anything short of watching "for" and "after" those things which really provide for the ultimate "filling" of our storehouses is to neglect some of the greatest opportunities we are afforded.  Just sayin!