Watchfulness
J. A. Alexander, D. D. Mark 13:37 And what I say to you I say to all, Watch. I. WHAT IS MEANT BY SPIRITUAL WATCHFULNESS? 1. The mind must be awake, the understanding, the rational powers. In order to this it is essential that the powers should be exercised; in other words, that the man should think. To be mentally awake there must be life, spontaneous action, and coherence in the thoughts. But this is not enough. The mind may be awake in one sense and yet dreaming in another. Some men's minds operate too fast, and some too slow. Some attempt to discover what has not been revealed of the future; some think too late. The mind must think seasonably. It must also act upon the proper objects, or it might just as well not act at all. The powers of many are in active exercise, but they are spent on trifles, on puzzles in theology. It thinks to no practical purpose. 2. The conscience as well as the intellect must be awake — the moral as well as the purely intellectual faculties. There must be perception not only of what is true, but of what is right. There must be liveliness of affection no less than of intellect. We must not only feel bound, but feel disposed to do the will of God. When the man thinks in earnest, seasonably of right objects and to practical purpose — when he feels his obligations and his failures to discharge them — when he earnestly desires, and sincerely loves, what he admits to be true and binding — then he may be said, in the highest spiritual sense, to be awake. II. BE ON YOUR GUARD. The importance of the charge committed to our care. Although essential, it is not enough to be awake. The sentry is awake; but he is more, he is upon his guard — his mind is full of his important trust. The sentry may look for danger only in one quarter, and be overtaken by it from another direction. The danger is a complex one. He may even find the enemy within the city while he looks without. The soul may expose itself to ruin, not only by actually falling asleep, but by want of proper caution when awake — by forgetting the danger or by underrating it — by admitting its reality, but losing sight of its proximity, by looking for it from one quarter, but forgetting that it may proceed from others, by looking at a distance when the enemy is near at hand. If asked, "Who is the enemy against which spiritual vigilance is called for," I reply, "His name is Legion." III. HOW SHALL WE OBEY THIS DUTY? It is natural to ask, Is there not some safeguard, some tried means of spiritual safety, that will at once secure our vigilance and make it efficacious? Yes, there is such a talisman, and its name is prayer, that settled bent of the affections which makes actual devotion not a rare experience, but the normal condition of the soul. (J. A. Alexander, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch. WEB: What I tell you, I tell all: Watch."