A Watchman

 

        A number of years ago, it became a law that a person could no go into a crowded theater and shout "Fire!"  Someone could be killed if such a thing was done and there was no fire.  There may come a time in your life when it is necessary to sound an alarm.  Take for instance a burning home where you notice the fire.  What should you do?  Should you walk by and ignore what you have seen or should you sound the alarm?  Obviously, you should sound the alarm as loud as you can.  One night before Easter, my parents went out to a party and left my sister and myself at home. Around midnight, my dog, “Trixie”, jumped up on my bed and on top of me as she tried to wake me up. She was sounding the alarm as the house was on fire. Ancient Israel also had an alarm system and had the practice of setting a guard or a "watchman,"   You never knew when an advancing army would appear so watchmen were set and were ready to sound the alarm should the enemy appear.   Ezekiel 33:5-6 says, "He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.  But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand." 

          We have taken this section of Scripture and given it an indirect application to all of us in connection with warning people now about the dangers of passing from this life without a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ..  As a believer, you know the "end of the story."  You know how things are going to turn out.  You know that Satan will be defeated and that the unbelieving will be cast into the Lake of Fire.  You also know the terrible wrath that is going to come upon every person that doesn't believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  Now comes the choice.  You have to decide whether to sound the alarm or not.  There are many who are ignoring the position of "watchman."  They are comfortable in their salvation and for one reason or another, don't see the need to sound the alarm.  What would it take to increase our awareness of the severity of the final judgment?  It may be that some people need to spend some time thinking on what it will be like to go into an eternity without God.  That is, what would it be like to spend the rest of eternity without Christ, without God, without light and without the blessings of heaven?  When you read the book of Revelation, you soon find out all of the wonderful things that will be in heaven.  The opposite is also true.  If you do not go to heaven, then you will go somewhere else.  That "somewhere" is the Lake of Fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels.  Would you be God's watchman today?  Will you sound the alarm and let those around you know that the enemy is coming and in fact, is here among us?  Praise God for salvation and be prepared to share it with someone today and in the days to come.