The Watchful "What If...?"

It’s hard to believe my dad has been gone now for six years. He slipped and fell on an icy parking lot on his way to the evening service at his church, striking his head. About ten days later, the Lord called him home.

There are many precious things I remember about my father. He was a sweet, gentle, strong, kind, dedicated man. He loved God, his family, his church, community and country. And he displayed those loves via his continual acts of service.

One of the key elements in my dad’s life, in my opinion, was his watchfulness. Perhaps partly because of his training and experience as a U.S. Marine and a New York State Trooper, Dad had a good, instinctive grasp of both the positive and negative sides of human nature. He seemed to make friends easily, but he was never naïve in a Pollyanna sort of way. He picked up signals from people that revealed their character, and never seemed rattled when their hidden faults or virtues manifested themselves. Hardly anything ever took him by surprise.

Whether I’m aware of it or not, watchfulness is a very important part of my life. And this quality is one of the hallmarks of effective fatherhood.

When a man first ventures into the territory of fatherhood, he might be unaware of the dangers and responsibilities he’ll be expected to face. But all too soon, the reality will become clear that there are people, influences, forces, and even governments, that are poised to make their marks upon that dad’s family. And most of them won’t hesitate to use every nasty, deceitful, seductive trick in the book to press their assault.

Unfortunately, we live in an age where this kind of watchful awareness is routinely scoffed at or minimized in people’s minds. The idea that evil forces must be assumed, identified, resisted and fought against is largely relegated to a bygone age. We are told by most that the biggest problems we must encounter are things like low self-esteem, religious fanaticism, playground bullying, and who uses which restroom. Discussing things like evil, sin and worldliness is uncomfortable to most people and is simply not done.

But, like it or not, God commands me to be watchful. The Bible continually harps on this.

Even back in the Garden of Eden, when the Lord warned His children not to eat from the forbidden tree, lest they die, the implicit warning was there: “Watch out! You may be tempted to eat from this tree. Don’t do it--you’ll die if you do!” When the subtle serpent slithered into their lives and promised them godlike knowledge if only they’d disobey God, Adam and Eve should have been ready for the old liar. They’d been duly warned. They should have been watchful!

Ever since the Fall of mankind into sin, God has been warning us...encouraging watchfulness and caution. He told Cain when the older brother was angry that Abel was honored (and Cain wasn’t) “Watch out! Sin is crouching at your door; it wants to have you, but you must master it.” Ancient Israel was repeatedly warned never to forget God’s commands and His mighty acts of deliverance, lest they falter in their trust in Him and seek after other gods.

Giving gentle, serious warnings to His children is something God is particularly good at. His warnings, as well as His promises, are woven into the entire fabric of His age-long plan of redemption. His great heart of love longs for each of us to heed those warnings and cling to those promises. How I respond to them will determine whether the course of my life leads me into a path of blessing...or cursing.

The Bible generally warns against three sources of evil I must watch out for. The World, the Flesh, and the Devil.

The Book of Job, considered by many to be the oldest book contained in the Bible, begins with a glowing description of the title character. Job is described as a righteous, pious, wealthy, respected man who knew the blessing of God in an abundant way, and responded to God’s special treatment by way of a careful, diligent watchfulness.

Whenever one of his ten children would give a feast, inviting the others to attend and join the celebration, Job’s practice was to bring them all together after the party ended. Then he would sacrifice burnt offerings to God for each of them, just because of the possibility that one of them had sinned in his or her heart during the course of that feast!

Now, you and I might feel that this practice borders on the neurotic or the overly extravagant...but whether or not it does, I think we would agree that it proves the sincerity of Job’s faith, not only in God, but in the reality of spiritual evil and how dangerous that evil can be. To Father Job, the World was not just dangerous on a physical plain. The Flesh, to him, was capable of being enflamed by a harmless party into something offensive to God. And the Devil was an enemy worth fighting against with a stern and costly zeal.

Job was said to be “the greatest man in the East” of his day. And a mark of that greatness was the fact that he could, and often did, ask the question, “What if...?” And he asked this because he believed in the harsh reality of evil and the vulnerability of the human soul.

“What if one of my beloved children had a bit too much wine at that last feast, then cursed God in her heart? What if my son has been led astray by a companion into some shady business venture? What if my foreman has been mistreating some of my servants? What if...?” Those kinds of questions needn’t be seen as fanatical or morbidly neurotic. Rather, they can reveal the heart of one who “hungers and thirsts after righteousness.” One who takes God’s warnings seriously to “watch and pray, lest you fall into temptation.”

If I am serious about my relationship with Jesus Christ, that means I will be serious about my growth in Christ-likeness...in true holiness. I’m happy to say I have more than one or two people in my life who care enough about my soul to be watchful over me.

Hopefully, watchfulness will come to characterize my own life more and more. Because there are people whose eternal souls I deeply care about...and this world is a dangerous place for eternal souls.

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