Watchers Are Needed

The night He was betrayed, Jesus warned that one of His disciples would join Satan’s plot. Pretending innocence under the exposure, Judas defiantly continued in the direction he had chosen, betraying the Lord in a conspiracy of murder.
 
Peter, another disciple, was dismissive when Jesus warned that Peter would deny their close association. Insulating himself from the charge, Peter claimed abhorrence at such treachery and adamantly protested Jesus’s prediction.  
 
Confronted by Jesus, Judas remained loyal to his brutal plan and, confronted by Jesus, Peter continued headstrong in self-righteousness. Neither really heard the voice that called them back from the precipice. The warning did not deter them.
 
Real deliverance depends upon one’s willingness to hear the Lord and those He sends. As was the case the night of Jesus’s betrayal, deception works secretly in the heart until we are powerless to deliver ourselves. To continue as we are may at first seem to cost nothing, but a patient enemy subtly drains precious vision and every ounce of joy from our lives.
 
Watchers are needed—those who watch for and hold onto truth; to encourage us to remain teachable and willing to listen; to confront our treachery, not once or sporadically but faithfully over time, with commitment to intercede for us until the Lord’s warning is heard, and the root of anything not right is revealed.
 
Never ignore the watcher’s warning.   


Amen.

Galatians 3:22-24, The Message | Matthew 26  | Verses@Once