Sunday March 12, 2023
I’m Not Humpty Dumpty
In the past few months I’ve seen many videos on social media that hook you into watching by saying something like, “Watch until the end!” or “Wait for it!” Before you know it, you’ve spent untold minutes watching for something that did not live up to the hype and definitely did not affect your life for the better.
But God has a different view on watching until the end. It’s actually a command. In the book of Second Timothy, Paul warns us that “in the last days, perilous times will come” (2 Tim.3:1 NKJV). The word “perilous” means, “harsh, savage, painful, and grievous.” We are in the last days, and we are living in the perilous times. So what are we to do? Warn the world.
Throughout history, God has appointed watchmen, those who warn of approaching enemy, to alert His people of impending danger (2 Kin.9:17). They are our examples. A watchman is one who carefully watches, defends, guards, and preserves those under his patrol. (See WORD WISDOM for a deeper study of example)
Isaiah declares that his watch was continual, on the watchtower by day and at his post by night. What are our watchtowers and stations? Our jobs, our families, our churches, and our world. We are to stand as trumpets of alarm against an enemy who seeks to destroy those on our watch. The prophet Habakkuk writes,
I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected. (Hab.2:1 NKJV)
It is not just telling but in the hearing. We must place ourselves in a position to hear His voice as we watch and pray. Isaiah 62:6 NASB reminds us that “the appointed watchmen…will never keep silent.” We must be relentless in our cries and shouts of alarm. If we keep silent and do not warn the unbelieving world that Christ will soon come and judge sin, their blood will be on our own hands.
But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand. (Ezek.33:6 NKJV)
That is how serious God’s call is. We are to be His watchmen. But first, we must be His. When we become His we become vessels for His use. It is through us that He guards those whom He calls. Solomon writes,
Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. (Ps.127:1 NKJV)
Without His power, without His sovereign knowledge, without His holy wisdom, a watchman is useless. It is time to take up our posts and boldly declare, “NOT ON MY WATCH will Satan have any victory.” We will stand guard and not fall off of the wall.
One final thought…being a watchman can be very lonely. Being a watchman can put us in harm’s way. But being a watchman is honored by God. The great poet, Edgar Albert Guest wrote: “Whoever stands his post, no matter where, believing God must need him there, although the lowly toil it be, has risen to nobility.” I won’t be a Humpty Dumpty and fall off of my wall! How about you? Amen, and amen.
Don’t let the enemy’s arrows muffle your clarion call.
