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What Are You Watching?
Joe Killian • November 30, 2017
Last night instead of retiring to my favorite position on the couch to distractedly flip through the channels looking for something to watch, I opened YouTube. Not really a big difference you might say. However it was the content of what I "watched" that mattered. This week's Gospel focuses on watching as well.
Jesus said to his disciples: "Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his own work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch. Watch, therefore; you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: 'Watch!'" Mark 13:33-37
This passage in the thirteenth chapter of Mark's Gospel is the last of several prophetic descriptions Jesus gives His disciples of what is to come. From the destruction of the temple to a description of the end times and the coming persecution along with the great tribulation, the disciples are given ample warning that they are to be alert and ready for...
The Coming of the Son of Man!
In this first week of Advent we begin the journey to Christmas and... the coming of the Son of Man. During Advent our preparation is for the coming of the Christ Child. At this time of year it is often a challenge to avoid the distractions of life and Advent reminds us of our need to watch for Him.
I wonder if our struggles with distractions during the busy time prior to Christmas is indicative of a larger malaise that causes us to lose our general watchfulness?!? Jesus' second coming that is referenced in this week's Gospel is something we all must be "watching" for. What we do while we are about our "own work" is critical to how we remain watchful.
As for my YouTube time last night, I watched worship videos. It was a minor thing but it made a big difference for me. Instead of watching reruns of The Big Bang Theory I was focused on the one who initiated the Big Bang in the first place. In so doing I was much more alert to God in my life. The grateful feeling I carried to bed allowed me to look forward to the start of another day where I expectantly watch for His coming in all things.
The story continues...I'm still working on the pondless waterfall in our front yard. I shared this project with you two weeks ago in Playin' In the Dirt. Since then I've had to rework sections of the stream three different times because we were losing too much water. I am now an expert on evaporation rates and excessive splash, two causes of water loss. This morning I tore the whole thing apart and I'm starting over.
Have you ever watched DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda? I stumbled across it recently and thoroughly enjoyed Jack Black's performance as a bumbling, noodle selling, kung fu enthusiast, giant panda named P o. Set in ancient China, it is more than a humorous slapstick comedy. The core message of the story jumped out at me as I have been focusing recently on the concept of being. Po is shockingly identified as the Dragon Warrior and he reluctantly enters training. The goal of the training is to receive the Dragon Scroll, which is believed to hold the secret to limitless power. Now I don't want to spoil the big reveal but I will say that what Po realizes is the same as what I speak to in the concept of being and authentic identity. So, where do we find the secret to our "power?" I praise You, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works! My very self You know. Psalm 139:14 God knows it; and we must seek Him with all of our hearts in order to find it. As it was in the movie, the answer is stunningly simple. Our authentic identity is already within us. The challenge for Po in the movie was in seeing himself accurately and not the way others saw him. Even his teacher scoffed at the idea that Po was anything more than an underachieving dreamer who overate when he was anxious. Po's problems are rooted in the fact that he believes the lie of his false identity much more than he does his authentic one. Is it possible that you do the same? Who could have imagined that beneath all of Po's girth lived the Dragon Warrior? What's hidden from view in you? Seek God for understanding as to who He created you to be. Spoiler Alert: the secret of your limitless power is already in you. God placed it there and He wants you to be who He authentically created you to be.
Maria and I have been playing in the dirt a lot recently. First we replaced our French drain and then we embarked on a creative project intended to change the entire look of our front yard. My brother Jeffrey and I installed a new front step.
