Talk Tuesday-Watch and Pray!

We are living in perilous and uncertain times. For each generation that preceded this one, the days also seemed dark, filled with wars, rumours of wars, pestilence, diseases, and natural disasters. The message has always been the same-'watch and pray.' The Lord is calling us to observe the times and to act. We are to be set apart, to live as ambassadors of Christ, to share the Good News of the Gospel, to love the LORD with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love our neighbours as ourselves. His return is nearer today than it was yesterday and our ability to act lies in the constancy of our prayer.

When Jesus entered the Garden of Gethsemane, He asked his disciples to, “Sit here while I go over there and pray,” Matthew 26:36. He expected that while He was seeking the Father, they would do the same. The Bible tells us that when He returned, He found them sleeping. “'Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?' He asked Peter. 'Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak,'” Matthew 26:40-41. In Matthew 24 Jesus warns about His return to the earth. “36 But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. 42 'Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.'” Matthew 24:36-42.

Be prepared, be willing and be ready. Heed the warning of our LORD and be vigilant. “15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15-16. Once again, 'Watch and Pray!'