Focus is a positive quality because it can boost productivity, but focus has a dark side that may lead to inattention.Consider the following example from my life:
MOM: Did you see that guy checking you out?
ME (Mulling over next week’s blog post): What guy?
This may be why I’m still single.
I suspect I’m not alone when it comes to overlooking the obvious. We sometimes disregard things such as world events because we’re preoccupied with health concerns, work issues, family problems, and more. Until recently, true to character, I hadn’t been paying attention to what was happening in Syria.
That’s no longer the case.
I’m not a prophecy expert. But when I began watching, I remembered the prophecies in Ezekiel 38-39 and Isaiah 17. Could the events in that might occur Syria and the Middle East become the fulfillment of those prophecies?
Maybe. Maybe not.
Because of the uncertainty, I’m telling myself to keep watch. Be aware. Ponder how these events might fit into what God has planned for the end. Matthew 24:42-44 is a good reminder of this concept.
Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
We don’t know when the Lord will return (Matt. 24:36), but we want to be ready. In Matthew 24:4-8, Jesus gave us signs to watch for. Wars. Rumors of wars. Famines. Earthquakes. People claiming to be the Christ. It sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
If you have never accepted Jesus Christ’s death on the cross as payment for your sins, don’t wait until it is too late. Romans 10:9 tells us, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
I challenge those of us who are Christians not to become so focused on our lives that we miss what the Lord is doing in the world. Pray for wisdom for our leaders. Pray those who don’t know Christ will come to know him. Pray for strength to endure the persecution we may face.
And as we pray, we must keep watch.