This past Sunday morning, I preached on the passage describing the watchmen of Israel in Ezekiel 3:16-21. This was the first message the newly commissioned prophet Ezekiel received from the Lord. As a child, growing up in that day and time, Ezekiel would have seen watchmen, heard their calls of alarm, and he would have heard people asking watchmen the time during the night. (Isa 21:11)
If you’ve been watching, you might have noticed that nobody else is watching. Today, everyone’s got their heads down and their eyes on a glowing screen. I am astonished at how many families can afford tablets for each of their kids. I see families eating supper “together” but really, everyone at the table is looking at a screen. People pay big money for tickets to athletic events and spend half their time there looking at their screens. You can’t tell me that our attention to the screens isn’t affecting our marriages, our communication and our socialization.
If you’re feeling the Lord move you toward evangelism and being one of God’s watchmen, one of the things you’ll have to do is … watch! We need to see the people around us. We need to be available to engage. No earphones, no screens. Eye contact. Smiles. Interaction.
Humans dealing with other humans in love, fairness, serious-ness, hope and message. That’s the way our Gospel first spread. And that’s still how it spreads today.
Question: How aware am I of others and how often do I interact with others face to face?
Watchful watchmen!
Bro Jonathan
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