The second verse of Bob Dylan's 1967 hit "all along the watchtower" reads:
"No reason to get excited", the thief he kindly spoke, " there are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke. But you and I, we've been through that, and this is not our fate. So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late."
No reason for you to get excited as I don't have my foot in your door.
But the urgency of the above is sounded in Ezekiel 3: 17 "Son of man, "I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked,"You shall surely die," and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul".
and later: if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.
I don't want to be all doom and gloom, but in a previous post i claimed that we were, in fact, living in the end time and that the evil one was served notice when Jesus rose, from the dead and ascended into Heaven. His, the devil's, power is broken, what we are seeing is the final throws of a frustrated and deluded entity trying his best to hold onto his power. As the time of the Second Coming draws near we will see an escalation of evil bursting upon our world.
Matthew9: 37 Then He said to His disciples," The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest."Luke ( 10: 3 ) adds: "......behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves."
Paul ( in Galatians 6: 9 ) encourages us by saying " let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith."
Do we need watchmen in this day and age, I say now more than ever.
Thinking outside of the box, the lonely crewman up in his perilous perch (the crow's nest) scanned the horizon for any sign of danger, or of land ahead, because after months at sea any chance to stretch your legs on a stable surface was welcomed. and what of the father of the prodigal son. surely he must have acted the watchman as he scanned the distance for any sign of his returning wayward son.
An early warning gave time to prepare, either for defence or to welcome guests or loved ones.
Paul again warns ( Thessalonians5: 2 ) For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labour pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
We are not alone, we do have help at hand. The door is there, all we have to do is knock and enter.
I know, from personal experience, that st Elizabeth's in Westville Durban is a welcoming haven in times of need. Get to your local church and offer your services, because by helping others we help ourselves.
The hour is at hand and the bridegroom comes......
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