What Is Watchfulness?

Intro

Men, we start a new study today.

If you have not grabbed your copy of the book and a reading guide yet, I encourage you to do so!

$10/book

Also, if you picked up a breakdown earlier, please grab one of these updated ones!

There was a date modification that I had to make to the original.

While the size of the book is not daunting, it is my desire for us to go through it very thoughtfully.

We could easily breeze through it in 6 weeks, but it will be so much more beneficial for all of us if we really chew on it.

Show of hands, how many of you have really considered what it means to be watchful before?

We hear about it in relation to other things.

When it comes to purity and keeping away from porn, we talk about being careful of what we put before our eyes.

When it comes to language, we talk about being careful of what we put in our ears.

But even these topics can be addressed incredibly passively.

We talk about sin and our spiritual lives often in the same tone and with the same fervency as we talk about keeping our kids safe from the boogie man.

Watchfulness is a practice that was considered and talked about regularly in church history.

It was taught alongside the spiritual disciplines of reading the Word, meditating on the Word, and prayer.

It was assumed that if you were a Christian, you were being watchful.

And you were being reminded and equipped regularly to do it.

If you read the introduction (hint: that was part of the homework for today) you see that the Puritans had A LOT to say about the practice of watchfulness.

So...

What IS Watchfulness?

There are several definitions found on pages 20 & 21.

But, for our purposes today, we are going to mainly focus on John Owen’s definition.

John Owen is considered to be the scholar of the Puritans.

Most Puritans held him in very high regard.

He was the professor, the educated, the brilliant mind that outshined the rest.

His definition of watchfulness can be found right under the chapter title and on page 12.

Owen says...

[Watchfulness is]… a universal carefulness and diligence, exercising itself in and by all ways and means prescribed by God, over our hearts and ways, the baits and methods of Satan, the occasions and advantages of sin in the world, that we be not entangled.

John Owen

If you haven’t yet, read Hedge’s detailed breakdown of this definition.

But the part that I want to highlight for you today is that watchfulness is an “exercise”.

It is 100% active.

There is no cruise control when you are working to order your heart in the way that God commands us.

There is no way to simply coast through life hoping we miss the potholes of Satan’s schemes and sinful desires.

Our passivity in watchfulness appears in our practice.

We often treat watchfulness like we are approaching a road instead of traversing a battlefield.

We may look both ways when we come to major decisions or milestones.

But our head is rarely on a swivel like warfare necessitates.

Looking up, down, all around.

Taking in all of the current landscape of our spiritual lives.

We scroll on our phones with no intentionality neither guarding our time nor being mindful of the content our algorithms are feeding us.

We entertain ourselves with media that we do not vet for content BEFOREHAND.

We cultivate close friendships where neither party is edified and encouraged to lead a godly life.

As Hedges put it,

If you do not burn for holiness, you are already off your watch.”

Scriptural Support

But, even better than respectable Christian brothers who ate, drank, and slept the pursuit of holiness is the call of Scripture itself.

Mark 13:33 ESV

Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.

Be on guard.

Be aware.

Matthew 26 contains some of Jesus’ last instructions to His disciples before He was crucified.

Maybe you even read it last week in preparation for Good Friday or Easter.

In the Garden, Jesus said this to His disciple

Matthew 26:41 ESV

Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Similarly, Colossians 4 tells us...

Colossians 4:2 ESV

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.

This communicates vigilance and sobriety.

So we see that this idea of “watchfulness” is found throughout the Scriptures.

It is commanded of every believer.

Conclusion

In the coming weeks we will breakdown more of the how and when of watchfulness.

But, next week we will continue defining “watchfulness” by looking at specific attitudes that need to be sharpened before we can practice it.

Take some time and discuss the questions provided around your table.