Eyes to See

There’s an urgency in Jesus' command to be spiritually awake. That urgency should lead to intentionality.

Photo by Tim Foster on Unsplash

I braced for impact. A woman ran a red light, seemingly oblivious to the stoplight at the intersection. I slammed on my brakes and went into a slide, believing I would T-bone her on her passenger side door.

She never looked in my direction. I waited for what felt like an eternity for the sickening sound of crunching metal. But it never came.

I must have missed her by an inch, and she kept going, never having any idea how close we came to serious injury (or worse).  

This happened years ago, but I’ve been thinking about some of my near misses. Maybe it’s all the loss I’ve experienced this past year.

In the past twelve months, I’ve been run off the road twice. Once by an elderly woman who didn’t know I was in the lane next to her. And once by someone who didn’t bother to look before turning in front of me. In both cases, I had to climb the curb to avoid the collision.

A couple of years ago, a police car darted out in front of me in a neighborhood, nearly T-boning me. 

Many years ago, I was enroute to Kansas City early in the morning before sunrise. I couldn’t believe my eyes as I passed a rest stop. Someone exited the rest stop and turned left, heading north in the southbound lanes. Thankfully, he or she pulled into the right lane, so I barely missed their car before dialing 911. 

I’ve had several near misses with animals too. Once on Interstate 29 when I came upon a deer that was standing in my lane. Once on a highway near a small town when a raccoon and her family ran in front of me. And once on another highway near another small town when a (presumably) different raccoon ran in front of me and a passenger in my car.

I bet you have had your own near misses.

What do you do with all this? For me, after breathing a sigh of relief and getting my heartbeat under control, it’s made me think about being spiritually alert.

In Mark 13:32-33 (ESV), Jesus said this concerning his return, “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. For you do not know when the time will come.”

Bible commentator Matthew Henry said this about being awake in this manner: “Take ye heed of every thing that would indispose you for your Master's coming, and would render your accounts perplexed, and your spirits so too; watch for his coming, that it may not at any time be a surprise to you, and pray for that grace which is necessary to qualify you for it, for ye know not when the time is; and you are concerned to be ready for that every day, which may come any day.”

The Greek word for awake in this verse means to be sleepless, attentive, ready, or to watch. The same word is used in three other verses. One of those verses is Hebrews 13:17 that tells believers to obey and submit to spiritual rulers for they are to keep watch over our souls.

In all of these cases, there’s an urgency in the command to be spiritually awake. That urgency should lead to intentionality, for we are easily distracted. 

Jon Bloom described it this way in his article titled Distraction Can Cost You Everything: “The Christian life is an attentive life (Mark 13:37; Luke 21:36; Ephesians 6:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:6; 1 Peter 5:8). The Christian life is a hearing life (Mark 4:24; Luke 8:21; John 10:27; Romans 10:17; Hebrews 3:7–8). But attentive listening to Jesus does not come naturally. It must be cultivated and diligently guarded.”