Watch and Pray - Luke 21:36

Luke the beloved physician shared how Jesus told His disciples, “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth”, and in chapter twenty-one and verse thirty-six of his book Luke shared how Jesus said, “watch you therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape” where we read:

Watch you therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

The verse reads, “Watch you therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, ...” Luke began with the words, “Watch you therefore” or “be circumspect, attentive, be ready and keep awake then, wherefore and on account of this you, disciples of Jesus”, “and pray always” which means “and beg, desire, long for and ask limitless and continuously”, “that you may be accounted worthy to escape” or “so you, disciples of Jesus, might be judged and deemed entirely deserving of seeking safety in flight” “all these things” which means “each, every, the whole and everyone of the things of which Jesus spoke” “that shall come to pass” or “that will happen and come into existence”. Luke shared how Jesus instructed His disciples to “be ready and keep awake” so they would be “judged as deserving” to “seek safety” from the cataclysmic events that will appear on the earth.

The verse goes on to say, “... and to stand before the Son of man.” Luke continued with the words, “and to stand” or “and to be established, put, placed and made firm” “before the Son of man” which means “in front and in the presence of Jesus Himself who is God's Son”. Luke shared how Jesus added that His disciples should “watch” and “pray always” to be “worthy” to “stand” before Him as well.

When we think through Luke's words in this verse, we learn Jesus' instructions given to the “disciples of Jesus” before all the things He spoke of happen. They were to “watch”, and they were to “pray”. They were to “be on alert” and “call out to God in prayer” so they may be deemed as “entirely deserving” to be “saved and rescued” from the “times to come” and to “stand” before Jesus in judgment. God knows everything that will “come to pass”, and He warns in advance to give them an opportunity to “escape” them. Those who are wise will yield their lives to God's Son Jesus and allow Him to prepare them to be “deemed deserving” to “escape” and “stand” before Him.

Next time Luke shares how Jesus, “was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".