Why Be Watchful?: Pt 2

Intro

Last week we began our discussion on the “why” behind watchfulness.

We looked at the value of our heart, the dangers of a hard heart, and the danger of temptation.

Today, we’ll round out the list found in our book.

This reading has challenged me to new levels of awareness and vigilance over my life, and I hope that it is doing the same for you!

Before we jump in… does anyone have anything that jumped out to them as they read this week?

Great discussion! Now let’s walk through these reasons for watchfulness.

The first reason today is...

Your Adversary, the Devil

He is real.

He hates God.

And he hates you, as God’s child.

If you have been saved by the blood of Jesus, you have defected from the camp of the Devil and pledged your allegiance to Christ.

It is his desire to drag you down where he can.

He cannot take your soul back, but he can hamper you tremendously!

Satan and his forces will hit you with temptation after temptation.

Provide you opportunity after opportunity to sin.

All the while making it seem so sweet and desirable.

Only after you fall does he come to you and say, “That was pretty bad wasn’t it?”

“You are a fake, a fraud, a cheat.”

“Don’t even bother trying to climb out of this sin. It defines you and is inescapable.”

This despair fuels a downward spiral of anxiety and sin.

So, just we were reminded in our study on Fighting Satan, don’t think of the Devil and his demons as little pushovers with pitchforks.

They are a threat and should be treated as such.

Be wary and watch out!

The Assurance of Salvation

The second reasoning to be watchful is that it is a means by which we know and experience the assurance of our salvation.

It is obedience.

It is perseverance.

It is necessary.

When we take our faith seriously, we don’t just coast through life thinking that we’ll just be ok in the end because we have been saved.

No, we want to KNOW that we are on the right path and obediently following our God.

So take inventory to make sure that you are taking your faith seriously today.

Thirdly...

The Gradual Onset of Spiritual Decay

We talked about this a little last week.

Because a hard heart doesn’t develop overnight, we have to be watchful against spiritual decay.

Little compromises, little concessions that snowball until they are out of our control.

Decay is the beginning of falling away.

I know a man who began taking second looks at magazines on the rack of the grocery store.

Soon, he began dabbling in pornography.

Years came and went and he continued, slowly ramping up the intensity (turning up the heat) of what he was comfortable watching.

I’m sure there were more baby steps that led on, but he eventually ended up committing full-fledged, physical adultery and destroying his family.

All because he didn’t guard his eyes, confess his lusts, and keep watchful over the state of his soul.

Hedges gives 2 symptoms of spiritual decay.

Going through the motions.

Reading Scripture without applying it to your life.

Going to church without allowing it to fan the flames of your affection for the Lord.

This is not a call to not do those things that your spirit needs to be disciplines in.

It is a call to take your spiritual temperature to evaluate your state of decay.

Put your antenna up.

The second symptom is...

Cherishing a secret sin.

Sitting in the dark with it and letting it fester and grow.

Not bringing it forward in confession and repentance.

Because repentance is the cure for decay.

Decay is not simple, nor is it painless, to address.

But it HAS to be address and rooted out so that it does not hold power over us and continue to increase in that power.

This leads us to the final reason for why we should be watchful.

The Sweetness of Fellowship with Christ

We’ve talked about dangers, we’ve talked about missteps.

But it would be negligent to not address a reason that is so immensely positive.

We should be watchful because it keeps us close to the one who keeps ultimate watch over our souls.

It keeps us within the sight of the Good Shepherd and we should want to maintain close fellowship with Him!

This is the ULTIMATE reasoning.

I loved how Hedges talked about how easy it is to approach watchfulness as “keeping your nose clean.”

Instead, it should be something that we do in order to enjoy Christ all the more!

We can stand, unwearied in our watchfulness, out of love and devotion to Him.

Conclusion

I encourage every one of you to take inventory of your soul in light of these reasons to keep watchful.

Be careful.

Be diligent.

Be loyal to your God.

Stay away, and on guard against, the enemy.

Let’s discuss around our tables.