“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” (Mark 13:32-37)
If we get nothing else from Jesus’ words, it should be that we strive to stay awake even if we aren’t positive what he meant. We must stay awake to him and his words to learn to stay awake in these evil days.
A parallel picture to staying awake is to stay attached. Falling asleep is to be distracted, even deceived. Staying awake is to “remain” or “abide” in Jesus as branches of the vine.
In other words, staying awake is relational. Instead of following people who would lead us astray, we keep our eyes on Jesus and follow him where he leads.
One aspect of this is to focus on him and what he is teaching us each day. It stands out to me that Jesus would often respond to disciples and critics alike by taking challenges and questions in directions the presenter could not have expected. When we demand that the Holy Spirit answer our questions the way we ask them, we are detaching from the true relational dynamic of the kingdom, that it is Jesus who is head of his church, and when he heads off into some teaching we hadn’t even thought of (from his word, that is), he is doing exactly what needs to be done.
For a few decades, I have summarized spending time with God using three questions:
- What is God saying to me in his word this morning?
- What work is God doing in me or around me?
- What must I do to join God in his work by putting his word into practice?
While some of this unfolds as the day or days progress, it is a way to maintain attachment to God with living faith in God’s “living and active” word.
Since finding ourselves in home church ministry more than two decades ago, I have had opportunity over the years to recognize a pattern. When people have their daily time with God in his word and prayer, identifying what God is saying to them with the intention of putting it into practice, they have a way of life I would call “staying awake”. When the same people hit something in their inner selves they do not want to bring to God, they stop listening to his word and get lulled back into the fast-asleep experience of me-centered churchianity.
We can only stay awake by listening to what the Spirit is saying to the churches every day and putting it into practice in “the obedience of faith”. Jesus makes clear what kinds of things we should not focus on because they don’t fit his work. He also shows the kinds of things we ought to be doing to serve him until his return. We may have good days and bad days of putting his word, will, and work into practice, but we must “stay awake” in the Spirit no matter what.
Oh, and that does include getting a good night’s sleep (if possible) and taking naps as required (even Jesus did that!).
© 2024 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8
Email: in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)
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