“Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matt. 24:42-44).

When Jesus told these First Century disciples to “watch,” they understood the urgency. I can’t help but wonder how many of us in this modern world fail to appreciate the admonition to “watch.”

In the Lord’s day, the people did not have security systems or doorbell cameras that sent alerts to their smartphones. They had to watch and make sure no one broke into their home and stole their property. There wasn’t a nightly weather forecast on the local news. People had to watch the sky to see what the day’s weather would be (Luke 12:54-56). Shepherds didn’t have surveillance cameras or satellite GPS monitors to keep track of their flocks. They had to be in the field to protect the sheep and make sure none of them strayed from safety (Luke 2:8).

We are blessed with technology that relieves us of our need to watch these things with urgency, but I wonder if this hasn’t hindered us spiritually? Man will never develop devices that will guard his soul and protect him from spiritual dangers. There is no substitute for Christians watching and being ready by faithfully reading the Scriptures, attending the assemblies, praying unto God, examining themselves, and sharing their faith with others.