Why Bother?

I encounter people almost every day, who are aware of the fact that I am busy spending time watching for the coming of our Lord, Christ Jesus. Quite often I get responses like "we could be in the end times, but I'm too busy to pay attention", or "I don't really need to watch this stuff, because I'm saved and therefore always 'ready'", "we aren't supposed to be wasting time on prophecy, there is too much work to do" (as if somehow watching the signs is mutually exclusive with witnessing or doing other, non-prophecy work in the church etc.).

In efforts to prepare for an upcoming series on prophecy, I was re-visiting some of the scriptures that Jesus provided, in the context of watching for the signs. It is interesting how passionate Jesus was that we watch the signs of the age of His return. It was of tremendous importance to Jesus - not only to be watching, but to be prepared in the last days. Lets look at a brief glimpse of these scriptures:

"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come" (Matthew 24:42)

"So you must also be ready because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him" (Matthew 24:44)

"Therefore keep watch because you do not know he day or the hour" (Matthew 25:13)

"You must be on your guard" (Mark 13:9)

"So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time" (Mark 13:23)

"No one knows about that day or the hour, not even the angels in heaven...So be on your guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come." (Mark 13:32-33)

"Therefore keep watch..." (Mark 13:35)

"What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!'" (Mark 13:36)

"Be always on the watch..." (Luke 21:36)


And to add to these scriptures about the urgency to watch the signs, we see a mini-discourse given in Luke 12 about the same topic:


"It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes" (Luke 12:37)

"It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready" (Luke 12:38)

"You must also be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him" (Luke 12:40)

In this same teaching, Jesus also said the following, which is highly germane to the topic of watching:

"He said to the crowd: 'When you see a cloud rising in the west. immediately you say, 'Its going to rain' and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, 'It's going to be hot' and it is.

Hypocrites!

You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don't know how to interpret this present time?" (Luke 12:54-56)


To summarize:

- It is extremely important to Jesus that the last generation is watching for the signs of His return. That point is clear.
- It is extremely important to Jesus that the last generation is prepared for His return. That point is clear.
- Those who are watching and are prepared will receive special rewards for this "longing for his appearing" (2 Timothy 4:8)

- For those who profess to love Christ, yet spend more time on things that they believe are more important (weather signs for farming purposes etc.) are considered by Jesus as hypocrites. Wow. Thats an eye-opener isn't it? But it is right there in plain english. Jesus, in Luke 12:54-56 made this point crystal clear. His audience apparently spent enough time studying the weather signs - signs that would assist them in their daily lives - because it was important to them - yet, they had no idea of the prophetic signs that were around them, in abundance. Signs that indicated that indeed Jesus was the promised Messiah.

The fact that they were unaware of these signs was considered as hypocritical by Jesus. Wow again.


Can anyone really argue that Jesus doesn't want us watching these signs? I can't imagine how, in light of the above scriptures.

Then we come to the next point. Being prepared. How does one prepare? What does this actually mean?

First of all, having an awareness of the fact that we are in the last days, most definitely puts Christ in focus in our lives. The sense that He will return an any moment, is life-changing. And having Christ as our primary focus is how we should all be living at all times - prophetic awareness simply sharpens that focus. Thats a good thing.

Secondly, Jesus requested that we not only watch, but that we remain prepared for His return. I believe there are a multitude of reasons for this, but one central theme comes to mind.

The Bible tells us that we, the Church, are considered as the Bride of Christ. The Bride. Awaiting His coming - a coming in which Jesus will personally come and take us to the special place that He has prepared for each of us (John 14:1-3).

Just think about this for a moment. Jesus - who came to earth in order to "pay the purchase price", on the cross, for each of us. For His bride. What incredible love.

And He is coming back, with great anticipation - to take us to our eternal dwelling place, where we will be in His presence forever.

How can this be met with a boring sigh? How can this be met with someone completely unaware? Not watching? Not caring enough to watch? Hypocrite does sound like the key word. If someone professes to love Christ, how can they have no interest in His return?

Prepared? Yes - prepared spiritually. Jesus clearly wanted us to all take our faith "up a notch" in these last days. He wants us focused on our love for Him as we watch the signs. He wants us to have the same level of excitement and hopefulness that ANY bride would have as the wedding date approaches.

If there is no anticipation of Christ's return - if there is no excitement - if there is no "sharpened focus" - then what message does that send to Jesus?


Jesus desires that we put Him in the center of our lives. That is always the case, and has been for around 2,000 years. But there is something different in the last days. There are probably more reasons - but as the bride of Christ, we are expected to be living with great anticipation and excitement at the prospect of Jesus coming back for us.


As Jesus stated:

"...keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him" (Luke 12:35-36)

And he closed with this:

"It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes" (Luke 12:37)