““But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake (and pray-from other versions). For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”” Mark 13:32-37 ESV
This passage reminds me that we as followers of Jesus have been left here on earth with specific tasks. We are to introduce others to Him and we are to take care of His church until He returns. God created us for a relationship with Him, but not everyone understands that and therefore they don’t know Him. We should be telling others about Him, showing others the love He has for us, teaching others how to grow closer to Him and encouraging one another to stay the course. Jesus will return one day to take those who believe in Him to live with Him for eternity. No one knows when that time will be. Only God knows that time. While we wait, Jesus tells us to be on guard, to stay AWAKE, and to pray. What does He mean by “stay awake”? He knows the enemy will not stand still to see who will believe and who will not believe. Satan will throw everything he can at us to cause us to not believe, to stray away, and if possible to turn totally away from Jesus. Jesus is warning us, in this passage, that part of the enemy’s plan is to put us to sleep. We can “fall asleep” or become dull to what is happening around us. I see this happening more and more as we become desensitized to what is not good for us in God’s perfect plan. Sin becomes less glaring in our own minds as the culture around us continues to change in its search for identity and meaning in anything else but God. We tend to get caught up in our own fleshly desires, and selfishness takes over. When we let our minds focus on ourselves; we don’t even recognize God all around us. Why would we not recognize Him? Has our relationship with Him come down to little communication and little time spent with Him? Just like any other relationship, we have to work on our relationship with Jesus. Spend time in His word, listening for His voice, and telling Him about our concerns. He wants a relationship with us! Staying in touch with the one who cares for us the most is the way we stay “AWAKE”.