Invitation and Readiness

    The Watchful Doorkeeper

    It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Therefore, keep awake, for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening or at midnight or at cockcrow or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.

    Mark 13:34-37

    The closing word of Jesus' teaching on the last days in Mark, compressed to a single command repeated three times: watch.

    Every servant got authority, every man his work, and the whole household one posture: awake. Watching is not anxious sky-scanning. It is doing your assigned work with the lights on and the door in view.

    Know your work and stay at it. Spiritual drowsiness rarely announces itself, so build the habits that keep you awake: prayer, the word, honest friends.